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¢GU RN A L 


OF THE 


ASTATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 


EDITED BY 


THE SECRETARIES. 


VOL, XVI. 


Part I.—JANUARY TO JUNE, 1847. 


en LPI 


“Tt will flourish, if naturalists, chemists, antiquaries, philologers, and men of science, 
in different parts of Asia will commit their observations to writing, and send them to the 
Asiatic Society at Caleutta. It will langwishafsuch communications shall be long inter- 
mitted ; and it will die away if they e.’—Sir Wo. Jones. 


CALCUTTA : 


PRINTED BY J. THOMAS, BAPTIST MISSION PRESS. 


1847, 


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INDEX TO VOL. XVI. 


PART I. 


Atmospheric Dust from Shanghae, Examination of some, forwarded to the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, by D. L. Macgowan, Esq. M. D., Ningpo 
Hospital. By H. Piddington, Curator Museum Economic Geology,...... 

Account of the process employed for obtaining Gold from tke Sand of the 
River Beyass; with a short account of the Gold Mines of Siberia. By 
Capt. J. Abbott, Boundary Commissioner, &C......+seeeeeersarercece 

Archeology of India, Queries on the. By Rev. James Long,.........0++- 

Bhasha Parichéda, or Division of Language, A logical Treatise, translated 
from the Sunscrit. By Dr. E. Roer, 11... 0. cece cece ne ce tee cece cess 

Correct Facsimiles of Inscriptions, Instructions how to take. By Capt. M. 
EMT Nias aio s «ia lnaiacts © aa sl ma pine epaid. fe ms SimigAe Seo pare is emieia'e shee 

Coal, being Volcanic Coal, On a new kind of, from Arracan. By H. Pid- 
dington, Curator Museum of Economic Geology, ......sseesecesecers 


Caves of Burabur, Notes on the. By Capt. M. Kittoe, 6th N. I. eis 
Damascus Blade of Goojrat, Process of Working the. By Capt. Jat ames a 
bott, Boundary Commissioner, Lahore, ......eeseeecsees be Neier ale bats pie 


Easiest method of taking and preparing Drawings for Lithograph, Hints on 
the. by Capt. M. Kiftoe, Gth ND. oe ie nc seen nicten sess nes OEE 
Explosive Cotton, Memoranda on. By W. B. O’Shaughnessy, M. D, F. 
R. S., Co-Secretary Asiatic Society of Bengal, ...... .eecseee Sa 
Hog kind, or Suide, On a new form of the. By B. HL. Hodgson, oh 
Hispid Hare of the Saul forest, On the. By B. H. Hodgson, Esq........ 
Inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad, Translation of an, with remarks. By 
See rhe. TP SMOWCTS «<n iy Saieecc's oe bn w nlp 6) snea op ae jie estsla lo es 
Inscription in the Nagarjuni Cave, Translation of the, ........sseeecceee 
Image of Buddha found at Sherghatti, &c. Note on an. By Capt. M. Kittoe, 
Kalan Musjeed, Some account of the. By Lieut. Henry Lewis, Artillery, 
Deputy Commissary of Ordnance, and Henry Cope, Esq,......0.+eseee 
Language of the Goonds as spoken in the District of Seonee, Chuparah; Spe- 
cimen of the; comprising a Vocabulary, Grammar, &c. By O. Manger, 
Pree eM SMTPCOM, SCOMCE ya acs ce Aeon sabe oe as se sdicece ces eah eb'ee 
Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, On the, including Notices of 
Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, &c. By J. R. Logan, Esq. 1... ss000. 


Page 


193 


286 


519 


iv Index. 


New or little known Species of Birds, Notices and Descriptions of various. 
By Ed. Blyth, Curator of the Asiatic Society’s Museum,.......... 117, 
Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad, South India, comprising 
a brief notice of the old Diamond Pits at Dhone. By Capt. Newbold,.... 
On Teredo Navalis, and a natural defence againstits ravages. By Mr. Leh- 
mann: from the Transactions of the Scandinavian Naturalists of Copenha- 
gen, 1840. Translated and communicated by Dr. T. Cantor,........ 00. 
Ovis Ammonoides of Hodgson, Observations on the. By Capt. T. Hutton, 
Pots, 8.5 we a meee oe tie we oN elsieie e's @ Guiel 6 uns ¢ mid sinc ole) feist amen 
Pindree Glacier, “Notes of an Excursion to ae in scenic 1846. By 
Capt. Ed. Madden, Bengal Artillery, 226 (with an Addendum,) ........ 
Pigmy Hog of the Saul forest, Postscript on the. By B. H. Hodgson, Esq. 
Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for January, 1847, oe 4 clues 00 eterna tee 


for February, @eeeoeeezveeneeee ese aeaeegee ee 
—— for March,.. eeaereernvreceeseesc ee eens ee 


for April, ever” eevoee@sepeeceeteveeceegeeeoe 


fot Miay,' 5s 0x0 cele a'ou ts 50 a0 oe eS 
Report on the Society’s affairs,......0+0. oe coerce ccveen ss 
Ruins of Anuradhapura, formerly the eater of tect On the. By Wm. 
Knighton, author of the ‘‘ History of Ceylon,’’ and late Secretary, Ceylon 
Branch Royal ‘Asiatic’ Society, <i. 000. c's. ae pape es oy ke tee 
Rock Temples of Dambool, Ceylon, On the. By Wm. night, mig 
Refinage, on a large scale, by means of Nitre, of brittle or understandard 
Silver, for coinage purposes, and a ready mode of approximate assaying of 
Silver. By W. B. O’Shaughnessy, M. D. and F: R.S.. am . 
Sequel to the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and on the sbiey of the ach, 
as described by Ammianus Marcellinus, Remarks on the. By James Tay- 
lor, Esq. Civil Surgeon, Dacca, (oo. c soa tne aad ee eas Cea sae eateten 
Steam Trip to the North of Baghdad, Journal of a, in April, 1846. By 
Sipe; JOE, TS haf en Ge se ee ee oe nese wn lo Sa teaw a eee 
Sculptures of Bodh Gyah, Notes on the. By Capt. M. Kittoe, 6th ‘NA 
Species of Wild Sheep, some further notice of the. By E. Blyth, Curator 
Of the Avidlic Bociety, 05 SFaiiicess os 00 co occ cise kore s eines a eeoiaeneeete 
Students of Arabic, Hints to ; extracted Acta a letter by Col. Lockett, ..., 
Tremenheerite, a new carbonaceous Mineral, Notice of. By H. Piddington, 
Curator Museum of Economic Gédlogy; .. 00... e ene cess cacaaeenumee 
Temple of Triveni near Hoogly, An account of the. By D. Money, Esq. 
Bengal Civil Borwice, (Peers aia as ce ok ot as es sie ecu ea ee aa eae te anne 
Viharas and ee of Behar, Notes on the. By Capt. M. Kittoe, 6th 
Regt. N. L, pasoeh ss sHRRREL SETA ELE LESH pete 6s 
Vedas, Report on “tee: Fe se eese ces ce'se te ePiaveprscu ee ee se ack omen 
Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah, Geological Notes on. By Lieut, W. S. Sherwill, 


Page 


428 


957 


——= ol CO 


Index. 


INDEX TO NAMES OF CONTRIBUTORS. 


Abbot, Capt. J. Account of the process employed for obtaining Gold from 
the sand of the River Beyass; with a short account of the Gold Mines of 
Siberia. Sete eeseet? 8 eceeevneeweepeeaeeseae eseoee@esesetpeeetveeeeepeecs ee ce ee @esne & 


, Process of working the eee Blade of Goojrat. cee 
Blyth, E. Esq. Notices and aie of various new or little known 

Species of Birds: ... J. Bac feng es AE cane cu CM ae 8 2 
, Some further notices of 2 aphaee of Wild Sheep. 0.0% 
Cantor, Dr. r. On Teredo Navalis, and a natural defence against its 


FAVASES. Si cece cece sc cescedess aise cage oa ccntnecenneuae 
Hodgson, B. H. Bisa: On a new aur of the Hog a or eaiaes 

——-—__———, On the Hispid Hare of the Saul forest. .. 
, Postscript on the Pigmy Hog of the Saul Forest. .......06 
Hutton, Capt. T. Observations on the Ovis Ammonoides of Hodgson. . 
Jones, Lieut. Journal of a steam trip to the North of Baghdad, ........ 


Kittoe, Capt. M. Instructions how to take Correct Facsimiles of Inscrip- 


eeoeeeseeeet?ee ee o8 @ 


tions. eoeesee@eeveeeeeeeewmeaeee ee sevesseeeseeoeseeveee oe eee 96 @ 


, Notes on the Caves of Burabur........006 


cee eeeeeeseeebh eae 


, Hints on the Easiest Method of taking and preparing: Draw- 
ings for Pick. . eiausiane etna 


—_—_————_,, Note on an ee ae of Buddha liad at it Slerghatti: 
, Notes on the Sculptures of Buddha Gaya.,..... 
, Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. .. 
Knighton, W. Esq. On the ruins of Anuradhapura. .........ccscccees 
, On the Rock Temples of Dambool, Ceylon. ............. 
Lewis, Lieut. H. and H. Cope, Esq. Some account of the ‘‘ Kalan Musjeed.’’ 
Lockett, Col. Hints to Students of Arabic. 
Logan, J. R. Esq. On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapur 
Long, Rev. J. Archeology of India, Queries on the, ........... 


eeoeoeseoev ee 80 


eo se 08 OH C2 Re Be ee Os eveoe ve 


Madden, Capt. E. Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. in oe 
MG LOG. © 6c can a. war ecieeis wists) nis(s eo wle a cc(e'e bdea/s cc aillwes cee 
Manger, O. Esq. Specimen of the Language of the Goonds as spoken in the 
Mretrice or meonee, Chuparaby . so s.ai st, se ne ok weasels vee Boy ore 
Money, D. Esq. An account of the Temple of Triveni near int eee 
Newbold, Capt. T. Notes chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. .. 
Piddington, H. Esq. Examination of some Atmospheric Dust from Shang- 
hae, forwarded to the Asiatic Society, by D. L. Macgowan, Esq. ........ 


——, On a new kind of Coal, being Votcanic Coat, from Arra- 
can. eeeoeteeoeeteeveee eo e2e2888 238 8 eeevrvretpeoeevpaeee ee eos seeae ee ee © ©8828 8 Oe 


mame, Notice of Tr aint nedette, a new carboneceous Mineral, , 


vi Index. 


O'Shaughnessy, Dr. W. B. Memoranda on Explosive Cotton, ....0+-+0 
, On the Refinage on a large scale, by means of 


Nitre of brittle or understandard silver for coinage purposes; and on a 


ready mode of approximative assaying of Silver, .secceecseeeersesecs 
Roer, Dr. E. Bhasha Porichéda, or Division of Language ; a logical Treatise, 

transisted from, the, Sanger ita; peice sacw sake sis ® fake ssew isd Se Orie peewee 
Sherwill, Lieut. W. S. Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, ........0+ 
Showers, Capt. St. G. D. Translation of a Inscription on an Gun at Moor- 

gheabad, With LemiATicG, 4. 0 wn buss cmpleisy Cap Sa dole aerew ee mlaaies 
Taylor, J. Esq. Remarks on the Sequel to the Periplus of the Erythrean 


Sea, &e. eeeceoeveevesceovesn ee Ceesv oe ereewpeesesere eevee eve ee eeeseereveeves Oe 


SADA" 


Page 
177 


LIST OF PBDATES: 


PART I. 

Plates. Page 

I es On Gee eae Herat yty alee a's @ 78 
Ti Re ERR Bede 0s eso se a 992 
We eg OE 224 
To eee ile gt hee MeO gle Una 267 
MNT ee eee sc ti ch el NOE a yn are tale! wa» 272 
a Ri aa ni ae aA 273 
PRR ee CR Mit AE 340 
TEDLY Ei eA ate gh ot Geer gl 408 
11 cA CET RES RANE RE ORS ae nh a a 409 
Or i 411 
Tippee Ae RANE (Ale oan aarp 418 
me es et Whe eae hme Fa" 423 
mE OR ee eR Pa ai eh os 427 
Bea Be ek SMP MRR Re adios. 573 
SOA CARED Pee el ea er ae 7 
SNE UAE RY od) ite are ee eee | 578 
MP hc AN eli be wines | . & 
NE ee BN i ee | 579 
ER el ort gi 


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JOURNAL 


OF THE 


Sol A TPapOOCLE DY, 


ARAAAAA 


PAARL 


JANUARY, 1847. 


PARADA DAIIIYVY YY YADA MAAAR DAA RADA RAA 


Remarks on the Sequel to the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and on 
the country of the Seres, as described by Ammianus Marcellinus : 
By James Tayutor, Lsq., Civil Surgeon, Dacca. 


At a period long anterior to the navigation of the Erythrean Sea by 
the Egyptian Greeks, the Arabians carried on a trade with India, and 
were the means, either directly, or through the Pheenicians, of supply- 
ing the Western world with the valuable productions of the East. It 
is generally supposed that they availed themselves of their knowledge 
of the monsoons to make periodical voyages to this country across the 
open sea, and that they had settlements along its western coast, and 
even as far south as Ceylon. On these points, however, nothing certain 
is known; and with the exception of the fact of there being enumerated 
in the Sacred Writings particular spices and perfumes which are the 
indigenous productions of India, there remains little or no evidence of the 
trade that existed between Arabia and the farther East at the remote 
period here referred to. Of the extent to which Indian commerce was 
carried on by the Sabeans, and Pheenicians; of the commodities they 
gave in exchange for the merchandize they imported ; or of the emporia 
on the Indian coast, whither they repaired for the purpose of traffic, we 
are entirely ignorant : and indeed, of the ancient trade of India gene- 
rally, it may be said, that we have no authentic information prior to the 
Christian era.* The earliest work extant, in which a detailed account 

* Appendix, No. 1, 
No. I. New Series. B 


2 Remarks on the Sequel to the | JAN. 


is given of the navigation and commerce along the coasts of India, is 
the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. This treatise is ascribed by some 
geographers to Arrian of Nicomédia, the author of the Periplus of the 
Euxine Sea, but there is reason to believe that it was written not by 
him but by an Egyptian Greek of the same name, who, it is generally 
supposed, flourished early in the second century of the Christian era. 
Arrian of Alexandria, who appears to have been both a mariner and a 
merchant, delineates in this narrative or journal, the course of naviga- 
tion along the coasts of Eastern Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India. He 
mentions their principal seaports or marts, and specifies the articles of 
merchandize found in them—distinguishing them by commercial names, 
composed in some instances, of Greek terms, in others, of words 
derived from the language of the country. How far Arrian extended 
his voyage along the western coast of India, we are not informed. It 
is supposed, however, that he did not proceed beyond Nelkunda, the 
modern Nelisuram on the Malabar coast: and the account, therefore, 
which he gives of the countries situated to the south and east of this, 
is generally considered as the result, not of personal observation, but of 
information, obtained from native traders, whom he met in the ports of 
Western India. Rennell was of opinion that, in the time of the Ptolemies, 
the Egyptians sailed, not only beyond Cape Comorin, but even up the 
Ganges to Palibothra. It is probable, however, from what Strabo 
states, that foreigners seldom extended their voyages so far as the 
capital of India. He incidentally alludes, indeed, to sailmg up the 
Ganges, or against the stream, to Palibothra; but he does not state, 
whether this was done by Egyptian or by native navigators, while in 
another place he distinctly informs us that few of the Egyptian mer- 
chants, who sailed from the Red Sea to India, ever proceeded to the 
Ganges; and adds that the persons, who made this voyage, were 
illiterate and incompetent to comprehend matters or questions relating 
to Geography.* He describes the Ganges as entering the sea by a single 
mouth or outlett—an error which must be ascribed to the imperfect 
knowledge that the Egyptian traders had of the Gangetic Delta, and 
which Strabo could not have committed, if these navigators had been in 
the habit of ascending this river as high as Palibothra. It would seem 
from the Periplus, that the trade between Malabar and Coromandel was. 


* Strabo, 686. + Ibid, p. 690. 


1847. ] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &c. 3 


carried on in the coasting vessels of the country: but that voyages from 
the latter coast to the Ganges were made in ships, that sailed across 
the Bay of Bengal. These were native or country-built vessels, and 
like the ships described by Fa Hian about the end of the 4th century, 
as sailing from the Ganges to Ceylon and thence to China, they appear 
to have been manned by Hindoos.* That the Hindoos were a maritime 
people in ancient times, is now generally admitted. In evidence of this 
fact, may be mentioned the allusion to marine insurance in the Institutes 
of Menu, the circumstance of Hindoos having formerly resided in Java, 
and the notice ‘‘in poems, tales, and plays dating from the Ist century 
before to the 12th century after our era, of adventures at sea in which 
Indian sailors and ships alone are concerned.”+ Mention is made in 
the Brihatkatha of a ‘king of Bengal who proceeded on an expedition 
to the coast, and of Srimanta, Chand, and Dhanapati, celebrated native 
merchants, who made periodical voyages in a fleet to Ceylon.”t{ The 
historians of Ceylon relate that a king named Wijeya, who held the 
sovereignty of their island for a period of thirty-eight years commenc- 
ing B. C. 543, was a native of Bengal, and that he had been exiled by 
his father Singababu, king of the latter country, who, it is said; sent 
him away with seven hundred followers to seek his fortune on the sea.§ 
It may be inferred from these circumstances, which so directly prove 
the early maritime communication between Bengal and Ceylon, that the 
transportation of merchandize from the Ganges to the marts of South- 
ern India was effected by the natives of the country, that the Egyptian 
traders seldom extended their navigation beyond Cape Comorin, and that 
the commercial intercourse that existed between them and the natives of 
Bengal centred in the ports of Southern India. Arrian appears to have 
derived his information regarding the navigation of the Bay of Bengal 
from native traders whom he met in some of these ports, and to their 
inaccuracy in geographical details, and love of the marvellous, may be 
ascribed the errors and fabulous statements which occur in his descrip- 
tion of the countries, and tribes of Eastern India. 

The concluding part of Arrian’s journal, which relates to countries 

* Professor Wilson’s Account of the Foe Kue Ki, in Jour, Royal As. Soc. Vol. 5, 
p- 108. + Ibid. 


t Preface to Bengali Dictionary by Babu Ram Comul Sen. 
§ Knighton’s History of Ceylon, p. 11, 51. 


4 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


eastward of Cape Comorin, is regarded as a supplement to his work, and 
is hence designated the Sequel to the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, 
The first place mentioned in it after leaving Kolkhi, is the bay of Argalus, 
where the pearls brought from the island of Epiédorus, supposed to be 
Manar, were perforated ; and where, also, the fine muslins called Ebar- 
geitides were sold. Proceeding along the Coromandel coast, the author 
enumerates certain marts called Kamara, Padooka, and Sépatma, which 
carried on an extensive trade with the sea port of Limtriké. He next 
notices the island of Palaisimoondus, (the Taprobana of other ancient 
authors) or Ceylon, which he describes as a country of great extent, 
‘the northern part of which” is civilized and frequented by vessels, 
equipped with masts and sails; and returning thence to the coast beyond 
or to the north of the marts above mentioned, he gives a brief account 
of a district called Masalia, which is evidently the modern Masulipatam. 
The portion of the sequel, which is descriptive of this place and of 
countries farther to the east, forms the subject of the followmg remarks. 
It is thus translated by Dr. Vincent :— 


‘‘ Masalia, a district which extends far inland. In this country a great 
quantity of the finest muslins are manufactured. And from Masalia 
the course lies eastward, across a bay, to Désaréneé, where the ivory is 
procured, of that species called Bosaré. 


“Leaving Désaréné the course is northerly, passing a variety of bar- 
barous tribes ; one of which styled Kirrhadze, a savage race, with noses 
flattened to the face. Another tribe are the Bargoosi; and there are 
others distinguished by the projection of the face like that of the horse, 


(or by its length from the forehead to the chin ;) both which tribes are 
said to be cannibals. 


“ After passing these, the course turns again to the east, and sailing 
with the coast on the left, and the sea on the right, you arrive at the 
Ganges, and the extremity of the continent towards the east called 
Khrusé [or the Golden Chersonese. | 


“The Ganges is the largest river of India ; it has an annual increase 
and decrease, like the Nile; and there is a mart onit of the same name, 
through which passes a considerable traffic, consisting of the Gangetic 
spikenard, pearls, betel and the Gangetic muslins, which are the finest 
manufacture of the sort. 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 5 


“In this province also there is said to be a gold mine, and a gold 
coin called Kaltis. 

« Immediately after leaving the Ganges, there is an island in the ocean 
called Khrusé, or the Golden Isle, which lies directly under the rising 
sun and at the extremity of the world towards the east. This island 
- produces the finest tortoise-shell that is found throughout the whole of 
the Erythrean Sea. 

«But still beyond this, immediately under the north, at a certain 
point where the exterior sea terminates, lies a city called Thina, not on 
the coast, but inland ; from which both the raw material and manufac- 
tured silk are brought by land, through Bactria to Barugaza, or else 
down the Ganges [to Bengal] and thence by sea to Limuriké, or the 
coast of Malabar. 

«To Thina itself the means of approach are very difficult ; and from 
Thina some few [merchants] come, but very rarely : for it lies [very far 
remote] under the constellation of the Lesser Bear, and is said to join 
the confines of the Euxine Sea, the Caspian, and the Lake Meotis, 
which issues at the same mouth with the Caspian into the Northern 
Ocean. , 

*¢ On the coufines, however, of Thina, an annual fair or mart is esta- 
blished : for the Sesatze, who are a wild, uncivilized tribe, assemble there 
with their wives and children. They are described as a race of men, 
squat, and thick set, with their face. broad, and their nose greatly de- 
pressed. The articles they bring for trade are of great bulk and enve- 
loped in mats or sacs, which in their outward appearance resemble the 
early leaves of the vine. Their place of assembly is between their own 
borders and those of Thina, and here spreading out their mats [on which 
they exhibit their goods for sale], they hold a feast [or fair] for several 
days, and at the conclusion of it, return to their own country in the 
interior. 

‘Upon their retreat, the Thine, who have continued on the watch, 
repair to the spot, and collect the mats which the strangers left behind 
at their departure ; from these they pick out the haulm, which is called 
Petros, and drawing out the fibres, spread the leaves double, and make 
them up into balls, and then pass the fibres through them. Of these 
balls there are three sorts—the large, the middle-sized, and the small ; 
in this form they take the name of Malabathrum : and under this de- 


6 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ Jan. 


nomination, the three sorts of that masticatory are brought into India 
by those who prepare them. 

*‘ All the regions beyond this [towards the north] are unexplored, 
either on account of the severity of the winter, the continuance of the 
frost, or the difficulties of the country; perhaps also the will of the 
gods has fixed these limits to the curiosity of man.’’* 

Such is Arrian’s description of the northern part of the Bay of Ben- 
gal, and of the countries of the farther East. He professes to trace 
the course of the navigation from Masulipatam eastward, but is so vague 
and obscure in his narrative as to lead us to conclude that he never 
visited this part of India. He delineates a line of coast from Desarene 
to the Ganges which is entirely imaginary, and places on it people that 
may be recognized by their names, as tribes which are referred by the 
Hindoos to the interior of the country. In geographical accuracy, the 
Sequel is certainly inferior to the first portion of the Periplus, wherein 
the places on the western coast of India visited by Arrian himself are 
described, but in other respects it may be considered as equally correct, 
since most of the countries, tribes, productions, and customs that are 
mentioned in it, admit of being identified in the present day. 

Masalia is evidently the Mcesolia of Ptolemy, the site of which is 
referred by D’Anville to that of Masulipatam or Masalipatam, as it is 
written in some books of travels. Masulipatam has long been celebra- 
ted for its cotton fabrics. Tavernier mentions as the peculiar manufac- 
ture of this place, ‘painted calicuts’ or pencilled cloths, “called 
Calmendar,’’+ the finest qualities of which were perhaps the sindones 
(translated muslins) which are here alluded to by Arrian. He also 
speaks of Masulipatam as possessing the best anchorage in the Bay 
of Bengal, and as being the principal port on the Coromandel coast, 
from which vessels sailed to Pegu, Siam, Arracan, Bengal, Cochin 
China, Ormus, Madagascar, Sumatra, and Manilla.t A city called 
Tarnassari,§ which stood in the vicinity of Masulipatam, is mentioned 


* Vincent’s Periplus of Erythrean Sea, vol. Il. page 523—528. 

f Tavernier’s Travels in India, Book I. Part II. Chap. XI. 

t Ibid. ————~—————-——_ Book II. Chap. X. 

§ Tarnassari, which Dr. Vincent mentions, he could not find in modern maps, 
but the site of which, he supposes, may have been between Pulechat and Bengal, is 
laid down in a map attached to Sir Thomas Herbert’s Travels (p. 336) on the banks 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 7 


by Barthema and Vertomannus,* who visited India between the years 
1490 and 1502, as the port whence they sailed direct to Bengal. This 
locality, indeed, appears from the earliest times to have been the point 
on the Coromandel coast from which most of the vessels destined for 
distant ports, took their departure ; and it may therefore be regarded, 
as identical with the emporium situated in Mcesolia, and mentioned by 
Ptolemy as the place unde solvunt qui in Chrysam navigant, or with 
the Masalia of the Sequel, whence vessels sailed to Desarene. The 
bay, across which the course is mentioned as extending eastward, 
can be no other, with reference to the position assigned to it, than the 
upper or northern part of the Bay of Bengal, stretching from Masuli- 
patam to Balasore. No account is given of the ships in which the 
navigation of this part of the bay was made, but doubtless they were 
similar to the vessels that frequented the ports of Kamara, Padooka, 
and Sopatma on the Coromandel coast, where, according to Arrian, were 
found ‘the native vessels, which make coasting voyages to Limurike, 
the Monoxyla of the largest size called Sangara, and others styled 
Colandiophonta, which are vessels of great bulk and adapted to voyages 
made to the Ganges and the golden Chersonese.’’ The Sangara vessels, 
(2ayyapa) named Monoxyla by the Greeks, are met with in various 
parts of India, and are used both in coasting and inland navigation. 
In some of the eastern districts of Bengal as Dacca, Sylhet, and 
Mymensing, this kind of boat is called Saranga; it consists, as the 
Greek term ovoivacy implies, of one tree or timber,t which is scooped 
out to form the hull of the vessel,§ two or more tiers of planks being 
generally placed on each side to enlarge its dimensions. Large canoes 
of this kind are common in Assam. The Bulam boats of Chittagong, 


of the Kistna at some distance inland from Masulipatam. In Nieuhoff’s Travels, 
(in A. D. 1662) it is placed on the south side of the river Nagunda, in the site, 
apparently, of Temerycotta. 

* Vertomannus’s Voyages, R. Eden. London, A. D. 1576. 

+ Pliny mentions that the Monoxyla of the Malabar coast were used for trans- 
porting pepper from the interior. 

{ From povos one, and CvAor wood. 

§ Dr. Clarke mentions boats of this kind on the Don. (Vide Clarke’s Travels in 
Russia, Tartary and Turkey.) In the South Seas, two of these canoes are joined 
together by transverse planks forming a kind of deck. The Jangar (Sangara ?) of 
the Malabar coast is a double platform canoe of this description. 


8 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


and the Goddo vessels of Arracan, are Monoxyla of a large size, and 
like those mentioned in the text, are used in coasting navigation. 
These vessels are built of several rows of planks firmly fastened together 
with coir and ratan. Methold, speaking of the trade between Bengal 
and Masulipatam early in the 17th century, remarks: “Once a year 
there arriveth at Masulipatam from thence a fleet of small vessels of 
burden about 20 tons, the planks only sewed together with cairo (a 
kind of cord made of the rinds of cocoanuts and no iron in or about 
them).” (Vide Purchas’s Pilgrims). The voyage, however, from the 
Coromandel Coast to the Ganges, was performed, not only in monoxyla, 
but also in vessels called Colandiophénta, which appear to have been 
ships of considerable burthen and constructed for sailing on the open 
sea, Fa Hian, who visited India about the close of the 4th century of 
our era, alludes to large-sized vessels, which, in all probability, were 
identical with the Colandiophénta here mentioned. He states that on 
proceeding to To-mo-li-ti,* a city situated at the confluence of the 
Ganges with the sea, he found a number of merchants embarking in 
large ships to sail to the south-west; that he took a passage in one 
bound for Ceylon: and that the wind being favourable, the north-west 
monsoon having set in, he arrived there in fourteen days. 

The region called Désaréné (Ancapyyn) situated across a bay and east- 
ward of Masalia, is supposed by some, to be northern Circars—by 
others, to be Orissa. That it is not the latter province, however, is 
certain from the fact of Utcala or Orissa, and Désarana or Desarene being 
mentioned as different countries in the Brahmanda Purana; both being 
included with Traipura or Tipperah among the kingdoms belonging to 
the empire of Bharata, and situated behind the mountains of Vindhya.t 
The term Désaréné on the supposition that it is a compound of the 
words des a country, and aruni a wilderness or forest, might be regard- 
ed as referring to the extensive tract of jungle on the southern part of 
Bengal, viz., the Sunderbunds bordering on the sea. Arrian, however, 


* To-mo-li-ti is supposed to be the Tamaralipta of the Mahabharat or the Tama- 
lipti of the Puranas. It is regarded as the modern Tumlook (Vide Professor Wil- 
son’s Account of Fa Hian’s Travels in the Journal of the Royal As. Society, No. 
IX. page 138.) 

+ ‘‘ Wilford’s Essay on the Sacred Isles of the West.’’ As. Res. Vol. VIII. page 
337. 


1847.| Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &e. 9 


mentions Désaréné as situated—not in the vicinity of the Ganges, but 
at a considerable distance from it; and it is probable, therefore, that 
he refers to an inland country or tract of jungle, lying on the south- 
west side of Bengal, and called in ancient times, from its constituting 
ten forest cantons,—Désdranya or Dasérana.* It seems to have com- 
prised Sumbhulpore (celebrated for its diamonds) Sirgoojia, Ramghur, 
and Chota Nagpore, whence come, according to Wilford, the rivers 
Cocila or Koil and Braéhmani, the united streams of which form the 
river Dosaron of Ptolemy.+ Inthe Vishnu Purana, the Dosarnas are 
mentioned as a tribe or nation, and are designated by Professor H. H. 
Wilson in his translation of that work, “the people of the ten forts 
subsequently multiplied to thirty-six, such being the import of Chat- 
tisgerh, which seems to be the site of Dosarana.’’t 

The words rendered: “ the ivory of that species called Bésaré,”’ are 
éAepavta Toy Acyduevor Bwoop} in the original. Dr. Vincent supposes 
that they refer to the horn of the Rhinoceros, but it is more probable 
that Swcaph is a corrupt compound of Bous, or Bos, and Arnee, (the 
Hindee name of the buffalo) contracted into Bésaré ; and that éAépayra 
does not here signify ivory, but denotes the gigantic or elephantine size 
of the wild buffalo. Baeare, it may be mentioned, is the name which 
is given to the wild male buffalo in the eastern part of Bengal. Large 
bovine animals, as the buffalo and the bison, are frequently compared 
with the elephant, or have from their huge size, the term elephant 
applied to them. In Abyssinia, buffaloes are called elephant-bulls, not 
only from their immense bulk, but also from their naked black skin 
resembling that of an elephant.§ (Rees’s Encyclopedia Art. Bubalus.) 
Speaking of the Urus (Bos sylvestris) of the Hereynian forest, Caesar 
remarks: “these Uri are little inferior to elephants in size, but are bulls 
in their nature, color, figure.’’|| Marco Polo, in describing the buffaloes 
of Bengal, also observes: ‘Oxen are found in Bengal as tall as 
elephants, but not equal to them in bulk.” The “ Bos Indicus,” 


* Ancient Geography of India. As. Res. Vol. XIV. p. 391. 

t+ Wilford. As. Res. Vol. XIV. p. 405. 

{ Wilson’s Translation of the Vishnu Purana, page 180. 

§ Elephants are mentioned under the name of ‘‘ Luce boves’’ by Pliny. 
|| DeBello Gallico Lib. VI. Chap. XXVIII. 

§| Marsden’s Translation of the Travels of Marco Polo. 


10 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


which Elian mentions as having horns large enough to contain three 
amphore,* is evidently the Arnee or wild buffalo of India, which is 
remarkable for the immense size of its horns. It is the animal described 
by modern Naturalists under the name of the Gigantic or Taur-elephant 
Arnee,} an appellation, which it happens singularly enough is synony- 
mous with éAtpavra Bwoapy', the latter being a compound of Seo and api. 
The Taur-elephant Aree, which is also the quadruped referred to by 
Marco Polo, was formerly a denizen of the forests of Ramghur, which, 
together with Chota Nagpore, formed a part of the region of Dasaranya 
or Dasarana of the Puranas, or the Désaréné of the Periplus. The 
words, therefore, of the text, 7 Ancapnyn xépa pépovoa edépayra, Tdv Aeydwe- 
vov Bwoaph translated by Dr. Vincent “ Desarene where, the ivory is pro- 
cured of that species called Bésaré,”’ should be rendered Desarene where, 
the elephant-sized animal is procured of that species or variety called 
Bésare. 

The course or track of sailing after leaving Désaréné, is described as 
extending in a northerly direction along a line of coast inhabited by 
various barbarous tribes, one of which styled Kirrhadee (k,gja8a) is cha- 
racterized as ‘a savage race with noses flattened to the face.’ The 
Kirrhadze are regarded by some writers as a tribe of the “ mountain and 
jungie tracts of Orissa,” { but the well marked Indo-Chinese feature, 
here ascribed to them, clearly indicates that they are a people of Eastern 
India. Dr. Vincent considers them, as the Mughs of Arracan, but it 
is more probable, that they are the Kiratas of the Puranas, and, that 
like Désaréné, their country is here erroneously described by Arrian, 
as bordering on the sea. In the Puranas they are designated “ forest- 
ers ;” “ barbarians ;’’ ‘‘ mountaineers’ §—appellations which are under- 
stood as referring to the inhabitants of the mountains of Eastern India. 
In the Brahmakanda Purana they are described as “ shepherds living 
on the hills to the north-east of Bengal.” || The Kiratas, who possess a 

* Cuvier’s ‘‘ Theory of the Earth,”’ page 69. 

tT ‘‘ The Gigantic or Taur-elephant Arnee which appears to be a rare species, only 
found single or in small families in the upper eastern provinces and forests at the 
foot of the Himalaya, though formerly met in the Ramghur districts.”” (Cuvier’s. 
Animal kingdom by Griffith’s and others. Vol. IV. p. 389.) 

¢ Murray’s Ency. Geograh. Part I. Book I. Chap. II. Sec. VII. 

§ Wilson’s Translation of the Vishnu Purana, pages 175 and 190. 

|| Wilford’s Essay on the Sacred Isles of the West. As. Res, Vol. VIII. p. 38. 


1847.) Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &c. li 


tract of hilly country in the Morung, to the west of Sikhim, and situated 
between Nepal and Bhotan, appear to be the descendants of the ancient 
Kiratas. Like almost all the. aboriginal hill tribes of Eastern India, 
the Kiratas have the Mongolian features ascribed to the Kirrhade : 
they are described as a brave and warlike race, and are said to have 
been an independent and a powerful people in former times. One of 
the ancient dynasties of Rajahs that governed Nepal, belonged to the 
“‘Kirrat tribe of Eastern mountaineers.” It comprised twenty-seven 
princes, the first of whom reigned B. C. 640.* The founders of this 
dynasty were probably Hindus, viz., the Kiratas classed by Menu 
among the tribes who were expelled from the caste of Kshatriyas. 
That the Kirrhadee of the Sequel are identical with the Kiratas of the 
Puranas, or Kiratas of the Morung, is further probable from the 
circumstance of the Bargoosi being associated with them—the lat- 
ter tribe being the Bhargas mentioned in the Vishnu Puranas, 
as neighbours of the Kiratas.t Arrian has erred in placing the 
Kirrhadz on the coast and on the western side of the Ganges. 
Ptolemy, with greater accuracy, has assigned to them an inland 
position eastward of that river. He describes their country as one 
of India extra Gangem, situated higher up than, or north-west 
of, a range of mountains called Moeandrus,—in the vicinity of which, 
there was a tribe or people named Plade, or Besade. Mceandrus is 
the Garo range of hills to the east of Sylhet and Mymensing—the posi- 
tion assigned to it by D’Anville; while Kirrhadia, from the relative 
situation given to it by Ptolemy, may be regarded as the country of the 
Kiratas in the Morung. The Besade, like their neighbours the Kir- 
rhadee, are described as flat-nosed, broad-faced, of a white colour (that 
is of a fair complexion when compared with the people of the plains) 
and of a short stature, which are characteristic features of most of the 
hill tribes on the eastern frontier of Bengal. The country of the 
Kirrhade, according to Ptolemy, was celebrated for its malabathrum ; 
and on the supposition that this article is betel, Vincent refers the 
Kirrhadee to Arracan and the country about the mouth of the Megna, 
where betelnut is extensively cultivated. Malabathrum, however, is 
not betel, but a species of Cinnamomum albiflorum which abounds in 
* Prinsep’s Genealogical Tables. 


+ Wilson’s Translation of the Vishnu Purana, page 190. 
Cc 2 


12 Remarks on the Sequel to the (JAN. 


the valleys along the base of the mountain ranges from Sylhet to Mis- 
souri.* It is said to be of a superior quality in the Morung, and 
doubtless, it is to this latter locality, which constitutes the country of 
the Kiratas, that Ptolemy alludes, when he states: Yep 5¢ rhy Kippadiay 
ev H pase yivSecOau Td KddAXorov mar&Babpor, viz., that the best malabathrum 
is produced in the country of the Kirrhade. 

The Bargoosi (Bepyvowr) are an ancient hill tribe of Eastern India, called 
Bhargas in the Vishnu Purana.t The Bhargas and Kiratas are there 
mentioned as people of the East who were subdued by Bhima. This 
accords with a tradition current in Nepal and in the Morung, viz., that 
Bhimsen the son of Pandu (the Bhima of the Vishnu Purana) had 
dominion in that part of India, it being further stated that he was the 
‘king of 1,10,000 hills that extended from the source of the Ganges to 
the boundary of the Plub, or people of Bhotan.”” The Kirats mention 
Belkakoth in the Morung, as having been the site of the capital of his 
kingdom.t 

The mention of people “distinguished by the projection of the face 
like that of the horse (‘tmompocdérwv and paxporpocémwy) is not a fiction 
of Arrian’s, but an absurdity, which he borrowed from the natives of 
the country, various fabulous or marvellous tribes of the description 
alluded to in the text, being mentioned in the Puranas, as inhabiting 
the mountains of Eastern India. Wilford, in speaking of a people in 
the vicinity of Bhotan, described by Ctesias as having the head and 
nails of a dog, remarks: ‘ We read also of tribes with faces like horses 
in these mountains.’’§ He also states that mention is made in the 
Vara Sanhita Purana of a people called ‘‘ Asvavadana’’ or horse-faced, 
and ‘ Purushada’” or cannibals.|| The belief, indeed, in the existence 
of people of forms or shapes, such as are here mentioned, has been 
entertained by the natives of India from the earliest times ; and to them, 
doubtless, must be ascribed the origin of the numerous fabulous stories 
related by ancient authors from Megasthenes downwards, viz., “‘of men 
with ears so large that they could wrap themselves up in them, of others 


* Buchanan— Royle. 

t+ Wilson’s Translation of the Vishnu Purana, page 190. 

+ Martin’s Eastern India, Vol. 3, p. 38. As. Res. Vol. IX. page 68. 
§ Wilford. As. Res. Vol. IX. p. 68. 

|| Wilford. As. Res. Vol. VIII. p. 338. 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 13 


with a single eye, without mouths, without noses, with long feet and 
toes turned backwards, of people only three spans in height.’’* 

The existence, however, of cannibals in the hilly countries bordering 
on the eastern frontier of Bengal is not fabulous, but a fact which is 
generally admitted in the present day. It was known to Herodotus 
upwards of two thousand years ago. Speaking of the natives of India, 
he remarks: “Some inhabit marshes and live on raw fish which they 
catch in boats made of reeds divided at the joint, and every joint makes 
a canoe. - These Indians have a dress made of rushes which, having 
mowed and cut, they weave together like a mat and wear in the manner 
of a cuirass.”” This account seems to refer to the aboriginal tribes of 
the low country beyond the Ganges, or the ancient inhabitants of the 
marshes of Mymensing and Sylhet. It is stated that to the east of 
them there are other Indians called Padeei (ta5a:0:) who are cannibals. 
Tibullus+ describes them as a people of the farther east ; and though 
they have been mentioned by Cellarius as belonging to India intra Gan- 
gem, yet it is certain from his testimony and that of Herodotus, as is 
stated in the work, entitled ‘‘ Universal History,” that they were situated 
*‘ to the east of the Ganges and even at a considerable distance from it.” 
Herodotus, speaking of their customs, observes—“ If any man among 
them be diseased his nearest connexions put him to death, alleging in 
excuse that sickness wastes and injures his flesh. They pay no regard 
to his assertions that he is not really ill, but without the smallest com- 
punction deprive him of life. Ifa woman be ill, her female connexions 
treat her in the same manner. The more aged among them are regu- 
larly killed and eaten: but to old age there are very few who come, for 
in case of sickness they put every one to death.” The practice here 
detailed is followed in the present day by a tribe of Kookis, who reside 
far in the interior of the Tipperah country. An intelligent native, who 


* Robertson’s Ancient India, p. 34. 

‘¢ The Assamese believe in the existence of a tribe called Barkanas having ears 
hanging down to the waist: the left ear serves as an ample bed to sleep on with 
sufficient to spare to wrap the body up in.’’ Wilcox. As. Res. Vol. XVII. p. 456. 
Appendix, Note II. The same idea is also entertained by many of the natives 
about Dacca. 

+ ‘‘ Ultima vicinus Phoebo tenet Arva Padeus.’’ Lib, 1V. Eleg. 1. V. 45. 

~ Rennell’s Herodotus, p. 308. 


14 Remarks on the Sequel to the [Jan. 


had been employed by the late Mr. Scott, Governor General’s Agent in 
Assam, to explore some of the countries in the vicinity of that valley, 
lately assured me that he and his party once meta tribe of Kookis, 
who made it a practice to kill the sick and aged among them, and to 
eat their flesh. He mentioned that he had occular demonstration of 
the fact, and that he ascertained it was the practice among them, to 
allow neither the aged to die from natural decay, nor the young or old 
to be cut off by disease, but to anticipate this result by slaying them, 
and then to eat their bodies. They believed that by so doing, they pre- 
vented the transmigration of the soul of the deceased into the body of 
an inferior animal, and that they thus retained it among them. The 
Battas of Sumatra, and the tribe of Gonds called Binderwurs,* near the 
source of the Nerbuddah, are cannibals like the Kookis here mentioned. 
They kill and eat the sick and the aged among them. Dr. Leyden 
considers the former as the Padeei of Herodotus, but it is more proba- 
ble that the latter were the cannibals of the Tipperah hills. Besides 
the Kookis of the Tipperah and Chittagong hills, there are other tribes 
called Abor and Tikleya Nagas on the northern part of Assam, who 
are mentioned by Dr. Buchanan as cannibals. They appear to be the 
Anthropophagi of Ptolemy, mentioned by him as inhabiting together 
with the Annibi, &c. a country on the northern side of Serica. 

Arrian states, that “after passing these,” (viz., the Kirrhade, Bar- 
goosi, and other barbarous tribes) “the course turns again to the east, 
and sailing with the coast on the left and the sea on the right, you arrive 
at the Ganges.” This has been supposed to refer to that part of the 
bay which extends from Orissa to the eastern mouth of the Ganges ; 
but the tribes, mentioned in the text, cannot possibly be identified with 
people inhabiting any part of the coast situated between Masulipatam 
and the Ganges; and the course or track of sailing, which Arrian here 
describes, must, therefore, be regarded as erroneous. Désaréné and the 
country of the Kirrhadz and Bargoosi are, not maritime, but inland 
regions ; and it is obvious, therefore, that the line of coast, which is 
here delineated, is entirely imaginary. 

Arrian correctly describes the Ganges as being the largest river in 
India, and as having an increase and decrease, or a periodical rise and 
fall, like the Nile. Herodotus alludes to the Ganges, not by name, but 

* Coleman’s Hindu Mythology. 


1847. ] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sve. 15 
as the river beyond which, the tribes living in marshes and the cannibals 
called Padeei, were situated. Iambulus, the history of whose life and 
travels is recorded by Diodorus Siculus,* appears to have been the first 
foreigner who arrived at the mouths of the Ganges. It is not known 
in what age he lived, but it is probable, that it was subsequent to Alexan- 
der’s expedition to India. He and his companion after leavmg the 
island (supposed to be Ceylon) where they had resided for seven years, 
came to the territory of a king of India, through sandy and shallow places 
of the sea (the mouths of the Ganges), and were there shipwrecked. 
The companion of Iambulus was drowned, but he himself was cast on 
shore and carried by the villagers to the king at the city of Palibothra, 
many days journey distant from the sea. The king, who had a great 
regard for the Greeks, received him well, and supplied him with the 
means of enabling him to return to Greece. Strabo, as I have already 
stated, describes the Ganges as having only one mouth. Ptolemy, 
however, mentions it as terminating by five branches called Cambusiam, 
Magnum, Camberichum, Pseudestomum and Antibole, which are enu- 
merated with reference to their relative position as first, second, third, 
fourth, and fifth—Cambusiam the most westerly branch, being the first, 
and Antibole the most easterly, the fifth one. ‘Wilford remarks : 
*« Ptolemy’s description of the Delta is by no means a bad one, if we 
reject the longitudes and latitudes as I always do, and adhere solely to 
his narrative which is plain enough.’ Accordingly, he identifies the 
Cambusiam branch with the Balasore river, which, he states, was in 
former times erroneously supposed to be a branch of the Ganges. The 
Ostium magnum is regarded as the Hooghly. The Camberichum de- 
rives its name from the Cambadacca or Cambaric river—the Jumnua or 
Jubuna river which unites with the Ganges and Saraswati at Treveni 
near Hooghly. The Pseudostomum, or false mouth, was probably so 
ealled, because it lay “‘concealed behind numerous islands,” and was” 
‘often mistaken for the easternmost branch of the Ganges.” Anti- 
bole was the most eastern channel of all, and is the Dacca river, or the 
old Ganges, as its name of Buri-Ganga imports. It seems from the 
Periplus Marciani Heracleotce+ to have been the limit or boundary of 
India extra Gangem, and the point from which measurements and dis- 


* Lib. II. Cap. IV. 
+ Geograph. Veter. Script. Gr. Minores. Hudson, Vol. I, p. 28. 


16 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


tances relating to countries in India were frequently made. Pliny 
alludes to a large island situated between two branches of the Ganges. 
It was called Modogalica or Modogalinga, and is described as constitut- 
ing the territory of a separate people or nation. According to Wilford, 
the upper part of the Bay of Bengal was divided into three parts, called 
in general Calinga, or the sea shore in Sanscrit, from its abounding with 
creeks. Modo-Galenca or Galinga from the Sanscrit Madhya Calinga, 
or middle Calinga, comprised the Delta of the Ganges; the country 
between Cuttack and the western branches of the Ganges being the 
western Calinga, and Arracan or the country of the Mughs the 
eastern one (Errata et Addenda As. Res. Vol. IX.). Madukali, sup- 
posed to signify Madhas creck, seems rather to be synonymous with 
Madhya Calinga, or the middle region of creeks, and to be identical, 
therefore, with the Modogalinga of Pliny. Modukali is situated on the 
river Borrassia between the Jessore and Furreedpore districts. Satore, 
which is within a few miles of it, is evidently a place of great antiquity : 
and, in all probability, it was the site of the capital of the ancient 
Modogalinga. There are a great many ancient tanks in its vicinity, and 
large quantities of bricks are still found at a great depth under ground. 
There is also a very large mosque here, which appears, from its style of 
architecture, to have been built soon after the Mahomedan conquest of 
the country.* 

The mart, which derived its name from the Ganges, (éumdpidy éow 
dudvupoy TH ToTopa 6 T&yyns) appears from the circumstance of the fine 
Gangetic muslins being mentioned as an export from it, to have been 
an emporium situated in the vicinity of Dacca, where the finest cotton 
fabrics in all India have been made from the earliest times. It is likely, 
that it stood in the neighbourhood of Sonargong, situated about twelve 
- miles to the south-east of the city of Dacca. Sonargong (Suvernagrama) 
is mentioned in the Sanscrit work called Jatimala,+ as one of the coun- 
tries in which the descendants of certain brahmins from Sacadwipa 


* This mosque is perhaps the largest in the southern part of Bengal. It has 
nine domes supported by as many stone pillars, and its walls are of great thickness. 
The date of its erection is not known, but it is probable, from its style of architec- 
ture resembling that of some of the mosques of Vicramapura and Sonargong, that 
it was erected in the 13th century. ; 

t See enumeration of Indian classes. As, Res. Vol. V. p. 56. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §e. 17 


settled in early times. A remote antiquity also attaches to it, from its 
possessing a place called Panchomee Ghaut which, tradition asserts, 
derived its name from the circumstance of the five sons of Pandu, viz., 
Yudhisthera, Bhima, Arjunah, Nakula, and Sahadeva, having bathed 
there on the occasion of the Asocashtami festival, which is held in the 
month of March. In the historical annals of Ceylon mention is made 
of Singababoo, who shortly before the death of Buddha, obtained the 
throne of Bengal, then designated Wango, apparently a corruption of 
Vanga or Banga (See Knighton’s History of Ceylon). The ancient 
Hindu capital of the kingdom of Banga, or Bengal, was situated (at a 
later date than that above referred to) in the vicinity of Sonargong, at a 
place called Vicramapura.* The latter now constitutes a pergunnah, 
which comprises a considerable tract of country around Ferigy-bazar 
on the western bank of the Issamuty,+ formed by the junction of the 
Dellasery and Luckia rivers. It is said to have been originally an 
island, and to have derived its name from Rajah Vicramaditya, who is 
supposed to have resided here for some time. ‘This prince was proba- 
bly Sriman Hersha Vicramaditya, the ruler of Oojeen, ‘‘ who, after 
expelling the Mléch'chhas and destroying the Sacas, had established his 
power and influence throughout India.” Pravaraséna, a king of Cash- 
mere, who flourished in the second century of the Christian era, is said 
to have waged war against the kingdoms of the south, and to have 
defeated the son and successor of Vicramaditya, named Pratapa Sila 
or Siladitya. He is represented by Bedea ad-din, a Mahomedan histo- 
rian of Cashmere, as having invaded Bengal ; and after subduing Behar 
Sinh, the ruler of Dacca (Sonargong), he is said to have given the 
government to Palas Sinh, the son of Siladitya, whom he had conquered.t 
Vicramapura was, at a subsequent period, the place of residence of 
Adisur and Bullal-sen, whose rule, it is well known, extended over the 
whole of Bengal. Prior to the time of Adisur, Bengal was under the 
government of the kings of Magadha, from whose yoke he is said to 
have delivered it. Banga was the eastern kingdom belonging to his 


* ‘*Vicramapura in Bengal, which is Paundraka’’ is inscribed on the Kesava Sena 
Plate found at Edilpore in zilla Backergunge (Vide Jour. of As. Society, No. 73, 
for January 1838.) 

‘+ See Rennell’s Map of the environs of Dacca. 

t As. Researches, Vol. XV. page 41. 


18 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


dominions, and from it Bengal derived its name. Bullal-sen, who is 
supposed to have reigned in the 12 century* of our era, is generally 
regarded by the Hindoos, as the adopted son and successor of Adisur ; 
but im the Ayeen Akbery, these princes are represented as the founders 
of two distinct dynasties—the Pal Rajahs being placed between them. 
Bullal-sen, regarding whose birth the natives have some fabulous 
stories, is said to have been descended from the family of Dhee Sinh, 
who reigned over Hindoostan, and whose descendants sat upon the throne 
of Delhi for a period of 137 years.t Lakhsman (Lokymon), the son 
of Bullal-sen, built the town of Gour, in the vicinity of which there 
were, prior to his time, only small forts to which Adisur and Bullal-sen 
occasionally came from Sonargong, to watch over the frontier. It 1s 
mentioned by Rennell, on the authority of Dow, that Gour was built 
about 730 years before the birth of Christ, but according to Dr. Bucha- 
nan, there is no tradition to this effect among the natives of the country. 
The latter states : ‘When Adisur erected a dynasty that governed Ben- 
gal, although he resided mostly at Suvarnagram or Sonargong near 
Dhaka, he had a house in Gour, then probably near the western boundary 
of his dominions. The same continued to be the case during the go- 
vernment of his successor Bullal-sen. His son Lakshman, or Lokymon, 
extended his dominions far to the north-west, made Gour the principal 
seat of his government, and seems to have built the town in Gour, 
usually called by that name, but still also known very commonly by the 
name of Lakshmanty, corrupted by the Moslems into Loknowty. His 
successors, who seem to have been feeble princes, retired to Nodiya (Nud- 
dea) from thence they were driven to the old eastern capital of Bengal.” 
(Martin’s Eastern India, Vol. III. page 68.){ The place where the 
palace of Bullal-sen stood, is still pomted out by the natives of Vicrama- 
pura. It is called Rampal, and is situated about two miles inland from 
Feringy-bazar.§ The site of the palace itself is named Bullal-baree, and 
like that of Bullal-sen’s residence at Gour, it consists of a level spot of 
ground covering an area of about 400 yards, surrounded by a wide ditch. 
No traces of buildings are to be seen on the surface of this inclosed space, 
* As. Researches, Vol. V. page 64. 


+ See Preface to Bengali Dictionary by Babu Ramcomul Sen. 
~ Vide Appendix, Note II. 


§ Rennell’s Map of the Environs of Dacca. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &c. 19 


but in its immediate vicinity and in the country to some distance around 
it, there are found at a great depth under ground, the foundations of walls 
from which large quantities of bricks have been dug, and sent to Dacca 
and different places in the neighbourhood. Sculptured images of Hin- 
doo gods, pieces of timber, large slabs of stone, and various articles of 
gold, and copper, consisting of ornaments and of vessels used in cele- 
brating poojahs, have heen excavated from these places. There is a tank 
in the centre of Bullal-baree, in which were deposited, it is said, the 
ashes of the Hindoo prince, who governed this part of Bengal, when it 
was invaded by the Mahomedans. It is called “ Mitha Pukar,” and 
is said by the natives to have belonged to that part of the palace which 
was occupied by the females of the Rajah’s Court. Near it is the Agni- 
kunda, where the funeral pyre was kindled. ‘Tradition asserts that 
the Rajah, when he went forth to oppose the invaders of his territory, 
took with him a carrier pigeon, whose return to the palace was to be 
regarded by the prince’s family as an intimation of his defeat, and a sig- 
nal therefore to put themselves to death. He gained the victory, it 
appears, but unfortunately, whilst he was stooping to drink from the 
river after the fatigues of the day, the bird escaped from the loose folds 
of his dress in which it was concealed, and flew to its distination. The 
Rajah hurried homeward, but arriving too late to avert the consequences 
of this unhappy accident, he threw himself upon the funeral pile still 
smoking with the ashes of his family, and thus closed the reign of the 
last dynasty of Hindoo princes in this part of India. The other objects 
of antiquity pomted out by the natives are a large tank on the banks of 
which the Rajah’s elephants were picketted ; the remains of a road 
leading to Sonargong on the opposite side of the river; several small 
mounds called Deool-baree, the sites of Hindoo temples: and a few more 
recent structures as mosques and bridges. One of the mosques is said 
to have been built by Pir Adam, who obtained possession of the coun- 
try after the death of the Rajah. The natives state that there was in an- 
cient times in Vicramapura, a mart called Lakhi bazar, which was un- 
der the direct control of the Rajahs, and that it was so designated from 
the circumstance of no merchant being allowed to carry on traffic in it, 
who was not possessed of property to the amount or value of one lac of 
rupees. ‘This tradition, however improbable it may appear as regards 
the origin of the name of the mart, is in other respects, in strict accord- 
D 2 


20 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN, 


ance with the spirit of the ancient Hindoo laws, which gave to the king 
a direct interference in the commercial affairs of the state. ‘‘In com- 


> says Heeren, ‘‘ was permitted to exercise an 


mercial affairs the king,’ 
extraordinary degree of influence. He might absolutely forbid the expor- 
tation of merchandize, or reserve the whole monopoly to himself. He 
issued ordinances relative to the buying and selling of goods ; he regulat- 
ed the price of the market, and received as his customary dues five per 
cent. on the profits of sale.”’* The mart of Vicramapura stood in a part 
of Bengal, which, from its numerous navigable rivers, possesses great 
facilities for inland trade. Situated at the confluence of the large rivers, 
which proceed from Sylhet, Assam, and Rungpore, and having a direct 
communication with the Bay of Bengal, this place was no doubt the 
centre of an extensive trade, which yielded, in the shape of customs and 
imposts on its merchandize, a considerable portion of the royal revenues 
of the Rajahs of Banga. Sir W. Jones alludes to a town situated on an 
island at the confluence of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, which derived 
its name from Lacshmi, the goddess of wealth,+ and which may, there- 
fore, be considered as identical with the Lakhi bazar of Vicramapura. 
There are no traces of this mart now to be seen, but from the names of 
several places in the vicinity of Rampal, as Sanchacara-bazar, or shell- 
cutters’ bazar, Pan-hatta, or betel-leaf market, Recabee-bazar, &c. it is 
probable that this spot was the site of a city in former times. From 
the appearance which the country presents, it is further probable that 
this city was not built in a compact form, but consisted, like all Hindoo 
towns in the lower part of Bengal in ancient times, of detached groupes 
of houses erected on elevated portions of ground interspersed with gar- 
dens, fields, and creeks, —constituting paras, or separate municipal divi- 
sions assigned to people of different castes and trades.t Wilford refers 
to this locality a town, which, he says, was called Antibole by Ptolemy, 

* Heeren’s Asiatic Nations, Vol. III. C. II. p. 349. 

+ Sir W. Jones’s Works, Vol. VIT. p. 383. 

} In the lower part of Bengal there appear to have been comparatively few brick 
buildings in ancient times. The expense of erecting durable structures of this kind 
must have been considerable, asthe only lime that was procurable here was made 
from shells gathered on the drying up of the marshes in the cold season. All the 
very old mosques in Sonargong and Vikramapura were built with shell-lime, which 
from its great purity and whiteness, is said to have been made from cowries.—The 
houses were constructed of bamboos and straw, and in making buildings of this 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 21 


and Antomela by Pliny: he states that its Sanscrit name was Hasti- 
malla, or Hathi-malla in the spoken dialects, and that both it and the 
country about it were called Hastibandh, because the Rajah’s elephants 
were picketted there. (As. Res. vol. xiv. 444.) Murray places the 
Gangetic mart of the Periplus in the site of Chittagong.* Heeren 
remarks in regard to it : “at the mouth of the Ganges merchandize was 
conveyed to a town of the same name: situate probably in the neigh- 
bourhood of Duliapur to the south-east of Calcutta and on the central 
branch of the river.” He quotes Mannert and adds ina note “its situa- 
tion however cannot be defined with precision. It was not merely the 
emporium for Chinese commerce, but also for the productions of Bengal 
particularly fine muslins.’+ The articles of Chinese commerce here 
alluded were silk, iron, and skins from Serica, which appears to be 
Assam ; the other exports (not the produce of Bengal) that are men- 
tioned in the text, viz., malabathrum and spikenard—were procured, the 
former from Sylhet and Assam—and the latter from Rangpore. It may, 
therefore, be inferred from the great commercial intercourse that has 
long been established between these places and Dacca, that the mart 
through which these articles passed, was situated in the vicinity of the 
latter—it being contrary to probability that they should have been sent 
to a town on the western branch of the Ganges, while Vicramapura was 
the capital of the ancient kmgdom of Banga, and the site, according to 
the traditions of the natives, of a rich mart. Was the Gangetic mart 
of the Periplus identical with the Gange regia of Ptolemy? With 
regard to the name of the latter, I may observe, that mention is made 
by some of the older geographers of two cities called Gange. In enu- 
merating the mouths of the Ganges, Cellarius remarks: “ Inter ostia 
fuit urbs Gange Ptolemeei diversa ab Artemidori Gange, modo dicta ad 
superiores partes hujus fluminis.”’ The Gange Artemidori was situated 
above, or to the north-west of Palibothra. This appears from the 
account which Strabo, on the authority of Artemidorus, gives of the 
course of the Ganges.t He states that this river, on emerging from the 


kind, the people of Sonargong are said to excel. They are frequently ornamented 
in the interior with painted reeds or bamboos and fine mats. 

* Murray’s Encyclopedia of Geography, Vol. I. 

+ Heeren’s Asiatic Nations, Vol. III. p. 183. 

¢ Strabo, Lib. XV. p. 719. 


22 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


Himalayan mountains and entering the plains of Hindoostan, flows to 
the south as far as a city called Gange, and that thence it runs in an 
easterly direction to Palibothra and the sea. Wilford identifies it with 
Allahabad. Gange Ptolemiz, on the other hand, stood in Bengal, and 
apparently in its southern part, for it is mentioned by Ptolemy as situat- 
ed near the mouths of the Ganges (ep! 74 orduara rod Pdyyov), The 
longitude assigned to it by Ptolemy is nearly that of the Camberichum 
branch of the Ganges, or the meridian of the middle part of the Gan- 
getic Delta. The city of Tilogrammum is placed near the mouth of 
this river, and Gange regia about one degree farther to the north. D’An- 
ville places Gange regia at Rajhmal,* and Rennel at Gour.t Wilford in 
assigning a locality toit, mentions in different parts of his writings, two 
sites to which he refers it: the first 1s Satgong or Hoogly, and the 
second is Calcutta, supposed by him to have been anciently called Chat- 
tragram—the metropolis of a district called Gunga-Reddha.t Some 
geographers of the sixteenth and early part of the 17th centuries 
considered Gange regia as identical with the city of Bengala,§ 
which stood in the eastern part of Bengal. It seems not impro- 
bable, however, from Vicramapura having been the seat of the Gange- 
tic mart of the Periplus, and the ancient capital of Bengal, that 
this place was the site of Gange regia, the capital of the Gangaride, 
whose territory comprised the country about the mouths of the Ganges, 
and extended, according to Curtius, beyond or to the east of that river 
—it being in accordance with the constant experience we have of Asia, 
which shows, as Heeren states, “that royal cities are always the princi- 
pal depots of inland traftic.” 

The exports from the Gangetic mart were malabathrum (rendered 
betel in the text), spikenard, pearls, and muslins, (8 08 péperau 7rd Te ward- 
Balpov Kal 7 yayyirixn vapdos Kal muixdy Kad owvdoves at Siopopdtarar at Taryyiti- 
Kal Acyomeva. ) 

Malabathrum is supposed by Salmasius, Vincent, and other writers 
to be betel-leaf, but as the former article was imported into Rome, and 
as the latter is used in its fresh or green state, and is spoiled by being 


* D'Anville’s Ancient Geography. 

+ Rennell’s Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan. 

~ As. Res. Vol. XIV. p. 330, and Vol. V. p. 278. 
§ Vide Appendix, No. III. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 23 


transported to a distance, it is obvious that they are not identical. It has 
also been regarded as tea, but it is now generally admitted, as will be 
afterwards shown, to be the leaf of the Cimnamomum albifiorum, which 
abounds in the valleys along the foot of the hills from Sylhet to Mus- 
sourl. It appears to have been prepared for exportation in the vicinity 
of the places where it grows, and was thence conveyed to the Gangetic 
mart to be shipped to the ports of Southern India. 

Gangetic spikenard was so called, it is supposed, by Dr. Vincent, be- 
cause it passed through the mart on the Ganges. It is the Nardosta- 
chys Jatamanshi, a species of Valerian, which grows in Bhotan, and 
which was imported into the Gangetic mart from Rhandaramacotta or 
the modern Rungpore. Pliny mentions a variety of nard which grew on 
the banks of the Ganges, but as itis described by him as having a strong 
disagreeable taste, on which account it was designated Ozanitis, and as 
it was held im no estimation, it is not probable that it is the article re- 
ferred to in the Periplus. Marco Polo mentions spikenard among the 
articles of export from Bengal in his time. 

The pearls that passed through the Gangetic mart appear to have 
been obtained from the rivers of the eastern part of Bengal. Though 
small and of inferior quality, these pearls were, no doubt as much 
in demand among the poor, as the more valuable pearls from Perimula, 
Ceylon, and the Persian Gulf were among the rich. The Romans pur- 
chased pearls wherever they were to be obtained, and are said to have. 
even invaded Britain for the sake of the pearls that are found in one of 
the rivers of Wales.* Robertson remarks : ‘‘ Among all the articles of 
luxury, the Romans seem to have given the preference to pearls. Per- 
sons of every rank purchased them with eagerness ; they were worn on 
every part of dress, and there is such a difference both in size and in 
value among pearls that while such as were large and of superior lustre 
adorned the wealthy and the great, smaller ones and of inferior quality 
gratified the vanity of persons in more humble stations of life.’+ It 
seems not improbable, therefore, from the ready market which pearls 
of every kind and quality met with at Rome, that the inferior pearls of 
the eastern part of Bengal were exported in ancient times. They are 
found in a species of muscle in the rivers and marshes of the Dacea, 
Tipperah, and Mymensing districts, and are collected by the Buddeahs, 


* The river Conway. Vide Suetonius. + Robertson’s Ancient India, p. 58. 


24 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


a vagrant gipsey tirbe, who live in boats throughout the year. They dis- 
pose of the shells, which are used for domestic purposes by the Hindoos, 
and sell the pearls at the annual fairs which are held in Vikramapura, 
Sonargong, and Bhowal. The pearls found in the present day are 
small, of a reddish colour, and generally of little worth, but occasional- 
ly, a pair of the value of 100 Rs. is met with; the Buddeahs sell the 
ordinary kind by weight to dealers in precious stones, who frequent 
the fairs for the purpose of purchasmg them. The quantity sold by 
them, at the Cartick Barnee, or fair held in Vikramapura in 1841, was 
estimated at three thousand rupees in value; one pair was dis- 
posed of at one hundred rupees. The pearls suited for ornaments 
are retailed by the merchants at a price ranging from four annas to 
four rupees per ten pairs, and the rest are disposed of to native physi- 
cians for medicinal purposes. 

The Gangetic muslins described im the text as the finest fabrics of the 
sort, are the fine muslins of Sonargong, and of the other places of ma- 
nufacture in the district of Dacca. It may be inferred from one of the 
Institutes of Menu,* that the cotton manufacture was a branch of in- 
dustry of considerable importance in his time, and that, therefore, the 
art of weaving the finest cloths was practised even in that early age. 
It is probable that these fabrics were exported from Sonargong from a 
very early period, and that they constituted the delicate vestures so fre- 
quently alluded to by Lat authors, under the names of vestes tenues 
vel pellucide, ventus textilis, nebula. The extreme tenuity of texture, 
which these terms imply, is a quality that belongs, rather to a cotton, than 
to a silken fabric, and leads us to conclude that the cloths so designa- 
ted were the very fine transparent muslins of Dacca. The term «aprdcos 
—derived from the Sanscrit Karpassa or Hindee Kapas signifying 
‘* cotton,’’ was also used to designate fine muslins. It is employed by the 
author of the Periplus in two senses, viz. first, to denote the raw mate- 
rial of cotton, as when he states that the region of Membarii is fertile 
in Karpasos from which the Indian cloths are manufactured ; and se- 
condly, as the name of fine muslins, in which acceptation it would seem 
to refer to the Gangetic muslins of the text. The two Mahomedan 


* Let a weaver who has received ten palas of cotton thread, give them back in- 
creased to eleven, by the rice-water and the like used in weaving; he who does 


otherwise shall pay a fine of ten panas. (Inst. No. 397.) 


1847.| Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. 25 


travellers of the 9th century state that cotton garments were made in 
the kingdom of Rami “in so extraordinary a manner that no where 
else was the like to be seen.”” Thecountry which is here alluded to is 
evidently Bengal, from the circumstance of Rhinoceros’ horns, Lign Aloe, 
and skins being mentioned as exports from it, and of shells being used 
as money. ‘The cotton garments are described as being so fine, that a 
web might be drawn through a ring of middling size. This is a test 
which has been used by the Dacca weavers from time immemorial, and 
there can be no doubt, therefore, that the fabrics here alluded are the 
Dacca muslins. 

The gold mine mentioned in the text appears from the words Aé¢yerat 
b€ Kal xpvowpix.a wep) Tovs Téwovs €wat in which it is described in the ori- 
ginal, to have been situated not exactly im, but rather in the vicinity of, 
the province to which the Gangetic mart belonged. The words must 
be considered as referring not to the alluvial plains of the Gangetic 
Delta, but to a country in its vicinity; and they have allusion, in all 
probability, to a gold mine which formerly existed in the adjacent hilly 
country of Tipperah. Tavernier in his account of this country remarks ; 
“‘ there is here a gold mine but the gold is very coarse.” He also states 
that the gold from this mine was exported to China and exchanged 
there for silver. Tipperah does not produce gold in the present day, 
but the natives assert that it was obtained in that country in former 
times, and that the Kookis or hill people were in the habit of bringing 
it from the interior, and presenting it as tribute to the Rajah. The 
gold coin called Kaltis, vémoud re xpucod 6 Acyduevos KdAtis is supposed by 
Wilford, to have been the refined gold named Canden, for which India 
was celebrated in ancient times.* A small fragment or piece of gold of 
an irregular shape, having either a plain surface, or a few obscure sym- 
bols marked upon it, constituted the earliest type of a gold coin in 
India ; specimens of this description of coins have been found in South- 
ern India and the Sunderbunds.+ As stamped coins, however, were 
current in India in the time of Arrian, it is probable that Kaltis was one 
of them. Stuckius mentions a coin called Kallais which was current. in 
Bengal in his time. Tavernier, speaking of Tipperah, states that the 
Rajah “ makes thin pieces of gold like to the Aspers of Turkey, of 


* As. Researches, Vol. V. p. 269. 
+ Journal Asiatic Society, Nov. 1835. No. 47, p. 627. 


26 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


which he has two sorts; four of the one sort making a crown, and 
twelve of the other.” The modern gold coin of Tipperah has on one 
side the Singha or lion resembling at the same time the Chinese dragon. 
The era employed is that of Salivahana, which dates 78 years later than 
the Christian. (See Marsden’s Numismata Orientalia.) Kaltis, how- 
ever, appears to have been the coin of the lower part of Bengal in which 
Gange regia was situated. The name of Sonargong, or Suvernagrama, 
(the town of gold) seems to imply, that it was a place of great wealth, 
or what is not improbable, the appellation may have been given to it, 
from the large quantity of gold that was brought to it in the course of 
trade. Formerly, a considerable quantity of gold was imported into the 
eastern part of Bengal from Arracan and Pegu. Speaking of the vessel 
in which he sailed from the latter country to Chatigan, Ceesar Frederick 
remarks: “save victuals and ballast they had silver and gold and no 
other merchandize.”* Gold is still brought annually from Pegu to 
Naraingunge ; and no doubt it was one of the chief imports into Sonar- 
gong in ancient times. Sonargong was the seat of a mint in the time 
of the Mahomedan Kings of Bengal, as appears from coins of the 
Sultan Shums-ooddin having the word Sonargaun marked upon them, 
and bearing the dates 754 and 760 of the Mahomedan era.t 

Khruse, which is mentioned as situated at the mouth of the Ganges, is 
regarded by Dr. Robertson as an imaginary island. From its being de- 
scribed as lying directly “ under the rising sun and at the extremity of 
the world towards the east,’’ Dr. Vincent identifies it with Sumatra, 
which is situated on the Equator, and is celebrated for its gold and tor- 
toise shell. Khruse, it will be observed, is twice mentioned by Arrian ; 
first as a continent, and secondly as an island, and in both instances, as 
a place in the immediate vicinity of the Ganges («ar durdy 3& rév moTapdy) : 
from which, it would seem that Arracan or some island off that coast, 
is the locality that is here referred to. Perhaps the expression “ direct- 
ly under the rismg sun,” applies merely to the situation of Khruse 


* Hakluyt’s Voyages, Vol. II. p. 370. 

+ Speaking of these coins Marsden states, ‘‘on four specimens belonging to the 
‘Societé Asiatique, M. Reinaud finds the place of coinage Sonargaun (aurificium urbs) 
an ancient city on the Brahmaputra, and the dates 754 and 760 (Numis. Oriental. 
Iilustr. ) 


1847, ] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &c. 27° 


within the torrid zone.* Arrian seems to have been aware, that De- 
sarene and the country of the Kirrhade and Bargoosi lay to the north of 
the Tropic of Cancer: and after describing these countries, therefore, 
he traces the course from them towards the south, and defines the in- 
tertropical position of Khruse by the expression above mentioned. 
Khruse was the most remote maritime region towards the east that was 
known in the time of Arrian, as appears from its situation being refer- 
red by him, to “ the extremity of the world towards the east.” In all 
probability, however, it comprehended, not only Arracan, but likewise 
the country designed by Ptolemy, the Golden Chersonese, which is now 
generally admitted to be Pegu. It is likely also that it included Malacca 
and Sumatra. 

Beyond or to the north of Khruse was situated Thina—a region the 
boundaries of which are mentioned as extending even to the confines of 
the Caspian, and the Euxine seas, the former being erroneously describ- 
ed according to the prevailing opinion of that time, as communicating 
with the Northern Ocean.+ Thina appears from the geographical posi- 
tion assigned to it by Arrian, to have been the country called “ Chin” 
by the Hindoos. Dr. Buchanan states that the ancient Hindoos do not 
mention anv kingdom as intervening between Kamroop (Lower Assam) 
and China ; and that they considered the former territory as bounded on 
the east by ‘‘ Chin,” by which term, however, he thinks, was probably 
meant the country situate between the Indian and Chinese empires— 
China itself, he states, being, according to Abul Fazel, the Maha Chin 
of the Hindoos.t Sir Wm. Jones mentions that in the 8th century be- 
fore the birth of Christ, there was erected a kingdom in the province of 
Shensi, the capital of which stood nearly in the 35° N. L. and about 5° 
west of Si-gam.§ Both this country and its metropolis were called 
Chin, and the dominion of its princes was gradually extended to the 


* The extent of the torrid zone is differently mentioned by ancient geographers, 
Eratosthenes limited it to eight degrees, and Posedonius to a little more than twelve 
on each side of the Equator: but in general it was considered (as originally defined 
by Aristotle) as comprehending the portion of the earth included within the Tropics. 
(See Robertson’s America, Vol. I. p. 369, No. VIII.) 

+ Strabo, (Lib. XI. p.773,) Pomponius Mela,(Lib. III. c.5,) Pliny, (Lib. VI. c. 13.) 

¢ Buchanan’s Topography of Rungpore. Martin’s Eastern India, Vol. 3, p. 403. 

§ As. Res. Vol. II, p. 371. 

E 2 


28 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


east and the west. It is probable, he further states, that this nation 
was descended from the Chinas of Menu—one of the ten tribes who were 
expelled from the caste of Kshatriyas, “‘ for having abandoned the or- 
dinances of the Vedas and the company of the Brahmins.”’ The country 
however, in which the Chinas of Menu originally settled, was apparent- 
ly not so far distant as Shensi: for according to the same distinguished 
author, it is designated by the learned Hindoos, ‘‘a country to the north- 
east of Gour and to the east of Kamroop and Nepal’’—a description 
which seems to imply that it is the Chin mentioned by Dr. Buchanan, 
and not the remote region of Maha Chin, Shensi, or China. The ac- 
count given by Menu of outcast and exiled Kshatriyas, called Chinas, 
having emigrated to a country to the east of Bengal, is supported by a 
tradition current among the Koch, and I believe, also among the Mech 
and Hajong tribes of Rungpore and Assam, viz., that their chiefs are 
descended from Kshatriyas ‘“ who had fled into Kamroop and the ad- 
jacent country of Chin.’’* Both accounts are considered fabulous, but 
it seems not improbable that they are founded on truth, and had their 
origin in an incursion of military adventurers, who, on being expelled 
from caste, turned their arms against the barbarous tribes above men- 
tioned. Accordingly, the Chinas and Kiratas mentioned by Menu as 
degraded Kshatriyas should be regarded, not as the ancestors of the 
’ aboriginal tribes of Chinas and Kiratas, as some have erroneously infer- 
red, but as foreigners of Hindoo descent to whom the names of the tribes 
they conquered were given by the nation from whose society they had 
been exiled. Of the skill in arms of the early Brahmimical conquerors 
of India, a highly interesting account is given in the appendix to Mr. 
Torrens’s work entitled ‘“‘ Remarks on the scope and uses of Military 
Literature and History.” They appear from the ancient authorities 
there adduced to have acquired at a very early period high military dis- 
cipline and superior tactical knowledge. This military science, therefore, 
coupled with the physical strength which, doubtless, these warriors pos- 
sessed (proceeding, as there is reason to believe they did, “from the great 
plateau of Central Asia’) must have rendered them formidable enemies 
to the comparatively weak and uncivilized aboriginal inhabitants of India. 
Their conquests, it may reasonably be inferred, soon extended to the 
fertile countries east of the Ganges ; and it was, we may suppose, at no 


* Buchanan’s Topography of Rungpore. See Martin’s Eastern India, p. 415. 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 29 


distant period from the time they entered the plains of Hindoostan, that 
the two outcast or exiled classes of Kshatriyas called Chinas and Kiratas 
by Menu, invaded Assam and the Morung and were thence designated 
by the names of the uncivilized tribes whom they vanquished. The 
country of Chin, described as adjacent to Kamroop on the east, can be no 
other than the eastern part of the valley of Assam. This remote and 
secluded region was almost a ¢erra incognita to the natives of India prior 
to the 17th century. Bukhtyar Khulijy invaded Assam in the 13th, 
and Sultan Hossein Addeen in the 15th centuries, but little information 
was obtained regarding it until A. D. 1660, when Aurengzebe sent an 
expedition to it under Meer Jumla.* Tavernier mentions, that until 
this time, little or nothing was known of Assam. He describes it as one 
of the richest and most productive countries in Asia.+ His account of it 
and that contained in the Alumgirnamah of Mahomed Cazimt were the 
only sources of information whence geographers drew their descriptions 
of this country before the commencement of the present century. The 
natives of Bengal had few opportunities of becoming acquainted with 
Assam, prior to the conquest of it by the English Government. Strangers 
were denied admission into it; trade was carried on at the mountain 
passes leading into it, or at fixed marts on the banks of the Brahma- 
putra, where this river enters Bengal: and the only persons, therefore, 
who could give any information respecting Upper Assam were the few 
pilgrims who penetrated to the Brahmakund. The word Thina, the 
name of the country of the Thine or Sine, is supposed to be a corrup- 
tion of Chin or Cheen, but it seems more probable that it is derived 
from T’hai—the name of an extensive Indo-Chinese race, which compre- 
hends the Siamese, the Laos or Shyans, the Khamtis, and Ahom 
nations, that are spread over a tract of country, stretching from Upper 
Assam and the sources of the Irawaddee on the north, to the gulf of 
Siam on the south. The Thine and Sine mentioned by Arrian and 
Ptolemy are one and the same nation, and apparently the T’hai or Shyans 
inhabiting the extensive region above mentioned. 'The Ahoms of Assam 
are descended from the Laos or Shyans. The date of their settlement 
in that country is not known but there is reason to infer that it was an- 
terior to the introduction of Buddhism into Siam. Capt. Low remarks 
that “the Chang priests of Assam speak a dialect of the Siamese.” He 


* Stewart’s History of Bengal. + Tavernier’s Travels. { Asiat. Res. Vol. II. 


30 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


also states that “the Laos are supposed to have progressed from some 
northern or north-eastern region, since the Khamti bordering on Assam 
speak a language scarcely differing from the Siamese.”* It seems not 
improbable therefore that the Thine and Sinee of Arrian and Ptolemy are 
the T’hai and Shyans. There were two capitals belonging to the Thinze 
or Sine. Thina, the capital of the Sinee mentioned by Arrian, and Sera, 
the metropolis of the Sine noticed by Ptolemy, are evidently, from the 
northern site assigned to them, the same city. Ptolemy places this city 
in 38° N. L. but it is probable that it stood in 28” N. L. in the vicinity 
of Sadiya in Upper Assam. Thine, the other capital of the Sinz or 
Thine, is referred by Ptolemy to a situation far south, and is generally 
considered as having stood on the coast of Siam. ‘The two cities, there- 
fore, viz. the Thina of Arrian (or the Sera of Ptolemy) and the Thine of 
Ptolemy belonged—the former to the Shyans of Upper Assam, and the 
latter to the Shyans of Siam. Arrian speaks of the remote situation of the 
capital of Thina, of the difficulty there was in travelling to it, and of the 
few persons who came from it és d¢ rhv Giva tadrqy du ori evxepas GmedOeiv 
oraviws yap am’ duTis tives ov ToAAOL epxovTat, or as Heeren renders the pas- 
sage, “it is not easy to arrive at Thina and but few individuals have 
made the journey and returned again.” This may be regarded as apply- 
ing to Upper Assam. All the mformation, it may be presumed, which 
Arrian obtained regarding this rarely visited country, was afforded 
by maritime traders from Bengal, whom he met in the ports of Western 
India, and as they could only speak of it from hearsay, it cannot be a 
matter of surprise, considering the proneness of the natives to exagge-. 
ration in their accounts of distant countries, that he should have been 
led to assign to it the remote situation which is mentioned in the text, 
and to extend its limits to the confines of the Caspian and the Euxine 
seas. The city of Thina is mentioned as situated at a certain point 
where the exterior sea terminates ; but it is at the same time stated that 
its site is not on the coast, but inland. The sea, whichis here alluded 
to, appears to be the gulf of Siam. It is called the exterior sea, no 
doubt with reference to its position to Khruse, which was considered 
by Arrian as the extremity of the world towards the east. It appears 
to have been known to the ancients that the country of the Thinze or 
Sinz bordered at one poimt onthe sea, long before they heard of the 


* Journal of Royal As. Soc. Vol. V. p, 250. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 31 


navigation to the east of Khruse (Malacca or Sumatra). This informa- 
tion could only have been derived from the Thai or Shyans inhabiting 
the country extending from the gulf of Siam to Upper Assam : and it 
was communicated, doubtless, by them to the few persons who travelled 
to Thina or Sera, the capital of the Simee for the purpose of carrying 
on trade. Ptolemy mentions that Marinus had heard of Cattigara, the 
most eastern sea port known to the ancients, (and which is supposed to 
have stood on the coast of Siam) but that he never met or was acquaint- 
ed with any person who had made the voyage to it from the golden 
Chersonese.* It follows, therefore, that he obtained his information : 
through Maés the Macedonian, whose agents carried on a trade with the 
Sinze on the frontier of Serica: and that the T’hai or Shyans of Upper 
Assam were the channel through whom this information was conveyed. 
The commercial routes leading from Thina or Assam extended through 
Bactria to Barugaza; also down the Ganges and thence by sea to Li- 
murike: 40° jjs tdéTe Epiov, cal Td oPovioy To anpiKdy, &s Thy Bapvyatay dia 
Baxtpwv meSh pépera cal eis THY Aimupixhny madd Sia TOU Tdyyou morapov. 
The first of these routes was vid Thibet or Bhotan. The Thibetans 
formerly carried on a considerable traffic with the Assamese. A cara- 
van consisting of about twenty persons of the former people repaired 
annually to the frontier of Assam, and took up their quarters at a place 
called Chouna, while the Assamese merchants were stationed at Gegan- 
‘shur, a few miles distant from it. The articles of merchandize brought 
by the Thibetans were silver bullion and rock salt, which they exchang- 
ed with the Assamese for rice, silk, lac, and articles the produce of 
Bengal.+ This, no doubt, was one channel through which the merchan- 
dize of Thina reached Bactria. Another appears to have been through 
the duwars or passes that lead into Bhotan. Tavernier mentions that 
in his time merchants travelled through Bhotan to Cabul to avoid pay- 
ing the duty that was levied on merchandize passing into Hindoostan 
via Gorruckpore. He describes the journey as extending over deserts 
and mountains covered with snow, tedious and troublesome as far as Ca- 
bul, where the caravans part, some for Great Tartary—others for Balk. 
At the latter place merchants of Bhotan bartered their goods.t—The 


* Ptol. Lib. 1, C. 14—Vincent, Vol. II. p. 602. 
+ Hamilton’s Gazetteer of Hindoostan. 
t Vide Bhotan in Tavernier’s Travels. © 


32 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


account which is given in the Sequel would indicate that the merchan- 
dize brought from Thina or Assam to Balk or Bactria was purchased 
there by merchants who were proceeding or who were on their way to 
India—and who afterwards sailed down the Indus to Barugaza or Guze- 
rat, where they took shipping for the Red Sea. The second route men- 
tioned by Arrian, viz., down the Ganges and thence by sea to Limurike, 
no doubt refers, as Dr. Vincent supposes, to the Brahmaputra. Mer- 
chandize from Thina or Serica was brought by this channel to the Gan- 
getic mart in the vicinity of Dacca, and was thence shipped to Limu- 
rike. It consisted of silk—raw and manufactured, skins and iron, all 
of which are exports from Assam or the countries bordering on it. Silk 
abounds in Assam and has always been an article of export from it. Mr. 
Hugon states that large quantities of silk cloths were formerly exported 
to Lassa by merchants known in Derung as the “ Kampa Bhoteas,’”’— 
the quantity they used to take away was very considerable, but in the 
latter years of the Assam Rajah’s rule from the disorganized state of the 
country the number of merchants gradually decreased. He estimates 
the total quantity of raw silk now exported at upwards of 24,000Ib. 
weight, and the total quantity produced in the province at more than 
double that weight—* the Assamese,” he observes, “‘ generally keeping 
more for their own use than they sell.” It is exported principally to 
Berhampore and Dacca.* 

The people called Sesatee, who inhabited a country on the confines of 
Thina, are generally supposed from their features, and make or form, 
to be identical with the Besadze of Ptolemy, placed by him, as has al- 
ready been mentioned, near a range of mountains called Mocandrus. 
The Sesatze are described in the text as “a wild uncivilized tribe” and 
as “arace of men squat and thick set, with their face broad, and their 
nose greatly depressed.” The words 7@ wey cduart xodroBol Kal eoddpa TAL 
TumpdowTol, ool els TEAOS, avTbUS BE AéyecOat SnodTas wapapolovs avnuépovs, of 
which Dr. Vincent’s translation is given above, are rendered by Heeren “a 
set of ill-formed, broad-faced, and flat-nosed people, who are called Se- 
sate, and resemble savages.”+ This is a correct description of the abo- 
riginal tribes bordering on Assam, and there can be little doubt, therefore 
that the Sesatze are one of them. All these tribes exhibit the Indo- 
Chinese features, and many of them have the harsh and savage-like ex- 


* Journal Asiatic Soc. Vol. VI. p. 34. + Heeren’s As. Nations. 


1847.) Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. 33 


pression of countenance, which is here mentioned as characteristic of 
the Sesatz. The northern Garos are a stout, strong-limbed people, with 
strongly marked Chinese countenances.’’ The southern Garos are de- 
scribed as having “ a surly look, a flat Caffre nose, small eyes, a wrin- 
kled forehead, over-hanging eyebrows, with a large mouth, thick lips, and 
round face,”* they are stout and able-bodied men. The Khassias have 
the Mongolian cast of countenance, but less strongly marked, perhaps, 
than in some of the neighbouring tribes : they want the oblique position 
of the eyelids, which is so characteristic of the Chinese face, but have the 
flat, depressed nose. They are a strong, muscular, and active race, and 
are employed from childhood, both men and women, in carrymg heavy 
burdens up and down their hills. The Cacharees, whose country is 
situated between Sylhet and Munipore, are scattered over several districts 
on the eastern frontier of Bengal. They have the Indo-Chinese fea- 
tures strongly marked ; but they vary in stature and complexion. The 
Kookis of the Chittagong hills are described as ‘‘ a barbarous, active, 
muscular race, short, of stouter and darker complexion. than the 
Choomeas, and like them have the peculiar features of the natives 
of the eastern parts of Asia, namely, the flat nose, small eyes, 
and broad face.’+ The Kookis of the Tipperah hills are short, 
broad-shouldered, but slender-limbed ; they have small dark eyes, and 
the flat nose. The Nagas, who occupy the ranges of hills on the south- 
erm side of Assam are distinguished by the peculiar features of the 
Chinese. The Kookis (or Lunctas) and the Nagas appear to be amongst 
the most uncivilized of all the hill tribes of eastern India. They devour 
animal food in its most disgusting forms, as the flesh of elephants, tigers, 
jackals and snakes. I have already mentioned the Kookis of the Tip- 
perah hills as being apparently identical with the Padzi of Herodotus. 
The Kookis of the Chittagong hills are also cannibals. Many of the 
Naga tribes go naked, and hence the appellation of Naga derived from 
the Sanscrit, which is given to them. Ptolemy mentions them under 
this name, viz., “ Nangalogee quod significat mundum nudorum.”t 
The Koch are an aboriginal tribe, who occupy the low country in the 
Rungpore district, skirting Assam and Bhotan: they are also found in 
the Mymensing and Dacca districts. They are a strong race of men, 
possessing the broad outlines of the Tartar countenance : they live in 
* As, Res, Vol.— 7 As. Res. Vol.— t Ptol. Lib.— 
F 


34 Remarks on the Sequel to the [J an. 


the heart of the forests, where they cultivate patches of ground with the 
hoe: they raise cotton, and kill elephants and deer for the sake of their 
tusks and horns which they bring for sale to the weekly markets, held 
on the borders of their forests. The Koch, who inhabit the forests in 
the northern part of the Dacca district, are altogether a much stouter 
and more hardy race, than the Hindoos or Mahomedans in the neigh- 
bourhood. They live in the midst of the forests of Bhowal, Cossim- 
pore, and Atteya, and notwithstanding the unhealthy state of this part 
of the country, they suffer much less from malaria, than the other mha- 
bitants in the same part of the district. With the axe and hoe they 
clear away the jungle, and cultivate rice, oil seeds, aad cotton, which 
they sell or barter at the weekly markets held im the vicinity of the 
forest. They often suddenly vacate their locations, and the land they 
have brought into cultivation, and move into the interior, where they 
recommence their labour of clearing away the jungle. They live in small 
villages consisting of a few huts frequently situated at a considerable 
distance from each other. They eat animal food and drink spirits, and 
from this mode of living they possess considerable physical strength, 
and armed with spears do not hesitate to attack on foot, wild elephants 
and tigers. They are strictly honest and faithful in all their dealings, 
and have the virtue, which few of their neighbours possess, of paying a 
great regard to truth. They are of a taciturn and reserved disposition. 
These tribes have different languages, and are in the practice of carrying 
on traffic with the Bengalese and Assamese, through the medium of per- 
sons, who act as interpreters and brokers at the marts they visit. Many of: 
hem, however, can speak the Bengalee language and barter their goods 
themselves. In former times, the mtercourse between the aboriginal 
tribes and the civilized people of the plains was much less frequent, than 
it is in the present day. The hill men accompanied by their wives and 
children generally travelled in large bodies to the marts or haués on the 
frontier: and on their arrival there, they held no direct communication 
with the people of the plains, but sold their goods, either through inter- 
preters, or by means of signs—both parties keeping at a dictance from 
each other during the negotiation. I have been informed by some old 
native merchants of Dacca, who formerly carried on trade in Tipperah, 
that before the Company’s Government was established in that district, 
the Kookis from the oppression and injustice which they suffered from 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &e. 35 


the people of the plains, were in the habit of bartering their goods in this 
manner. A similar practice, though arismg apparently from a different 
cause, occurs in Malabar. Speaking of the tribe called Nayaree in that 
country, Col. Welsh states: “They crawl to the road side or to a cer- 
tain distance from a habitation, deposit something, such as a bundle of 
twigs, some wild berries or a honey-comb, set up a loud and hideous 
shriek or scream, and then retire to a sufficient distance to watch the 
result, when the nearest person either converses with them at a distance 
on the exchange, or at once deposits what may serve their purpose, and 
get out of the way to enable them to approach, and carry off their supplies 
without personal contact.”* The Garos and Kookis bring down to the 
plains large basket loads of cotton, which they exchange for rice, dry- 
fish, betel-nut, salt, goats, poultry, ornaments, &c. Speaking of the 
former people and the places where they carry on traffic, Dr. Buchanan 
remarks : “‘ They repair once a week during the dry season, more parti- 
cularly in December, January, and February. Almost the only article 
which they bring for sale is cotton in the seed, for the conduct of the 
Bengalees has totally put a stop to the collection of Agal-wood. On 
_ the Garos arriving at the market the Zemindar im the first place takes a 
part of the cotton as his share (Phul) ; the remainder is exchanged for 
salt, kine, hogs, goats, dogs, cats, fowls, ducks, fish, dry and fresh, tor- 
toises, rice and extract of sugar-cane for eating: for tobacco and betel- 
nut for chewing, &c.”’ The Khassias bring to the mart on the borders of 
their country, cotton, iron ore, honey, wax, oranges, ivory, and cassia, and 
sell or exchange them for spirits, rice, tobacco, fish, &c. They and all the 
other hill tribes on the eastern frontier of Bengal, carry down their goods 
in large conical-shaped baskets, or hampers, called tapas by the Khas- 
sias. This kind of basket is made of ratan or bamboo, and is supported 
upon the back by means of a broad band which encircles the forehead. 
Men and women carry heavy loads of goods to the plains in this manner. 
The account, which is given of the Sesatze coming to an established mart 
on the borders of Thina accompanied by their wives and children, and 
carrying heavy burdens in mats, so closely resembles the description which 
is given of the hill people of Assam and their mode of conducting traffic as 
to leave no doubt, I think, that the Sesatee are one of these tribes,—apa- 
ylvovres ody yuvaitly Kui Téxvois Baralovres poptia pmeydAa ev Tapmévais, Ouaumerl-. 
* Welsh’s Military Reminiscenses, Vol. [1]. p. 111. 
F 2 


36 ftemarks on the Sequel to the [ Jan. 


vev rapardjoia, The word taprévais is supposed by Dr. Vincent to signify 
sirpeis, rendered mats made of rushes, bags or sacs. It is more proba- 
ble, however, that t¢arponais is a corruption of tapas, and that it refers 
to the baskets in which the hill people carry down their merchandize to 
the plains. Though both Vincent and Heeren have rendered the words 
Taprévais Gpaumedivay maparAjore, mats resembling in their outward appear- 
ance the early leaves of the vine, or looking like the early branches of the 
vine, yet they consider #xeumeAwwy to refer, not to the material of which 
the mats were made, but to the articles contained in them, and which 
are supposed by them to have been the betel-leaf and areca nut, from 
which malabathrum was prepared. Malabathrum, however, is not betel- 
leaf nor areca nut, but the leaves of two or more species of Cimamomum 
which are found in the valleys along the foot of the hills on the eastern 
frontier of Bengal. These trees bear fruit of the shape of a small oval 
drupe or berry, about the size ofa black currant, and it is apparently to 
the resemblance between this fruit and a young or early grape, that the 
word #auTeAwor is applied, as signifying, like the early fruit of the 
vine. 

The Sesatee accompained by their wives and children brought in their 
tarponais or baskets, large loads or burthens, (popria weyada) of the branch- 
es of these trees, from the valleys in the interior, and bartered them at 
the marts or hauts on the borders of their forests, for the produce of the 
plains. It is mentioned that they held a feast or festival at the mart, or 
im other words, they feasted on the articles of food, &c. which they re- 
eeived in exchange for their merchandize. The barter was, no doubt, 
effected either by signs, or through persons, who, understanding their 
language, acted as brokers on behalf of the Thine or people of the plains 
of Assam. This is probable from the circumstance of its being mentioned 
that the Thine “ continued on the watch,’’ while the Sesatee were at 
the mart. The Thine or Assamese merchants appear to have entrusted 
the negotiation of their busimess to interpreters, while they themselves 
remained at some distance watching the proceedings. 

The Sesatee having completed the barter, and feasted for several days 
on the commodities they received, took their departure for their own 
country in the interior; or in other words, they returned to the jungles 
of their mountain recesses ; after which, the Thine, coming forth from 
their place of retreat, repaired to the spot, and collected the baskets of 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §:c. By 


goods, which the strangers (the Sesatee) had left behind them, (6: 3é 7aira 
Soxodyres TéTe mapayivovra: emi Tos TémouS Kal TVAAEYoUGL TH exelvwy brospduara.) 
Whether the Sesatz brought any merchandize besides the article which is 
described as @nay7edivwy rapardhora does not appear from the text. This 
is the only thing that is there specified ; and from it, the Thine or the 
Assamese merchants proceeded to prepare the two articles called Petros 
and Malabathrum. ‘The words, that refer to the former article, are in 
the original efiidoayTes KaAduous TOUS Aeyouevous Térpovs. Dr. Vincent sup- 
poses that they apply to betel, and that the first part of the 
sentence, which he renders “they pick out the haulm which is 
called Petros,” is descriptive of the process of picking cut the nerves 
or central fibres of the leaf of the Piper Betel, called in the preced- 
ing part of the text, from the resemblance between it and the vine, 
—yopume\ivev ; while he regards the rest of the sentence as having 
reference to the folding of these leaves with areca or betel-nut, 
cardamoms, lime, and other adjuncts, into balls, or rather small parcels, 
which, he concludes, constituted the masticatory called Malabathrum in 
the text. He is of opinion that the betel leaf and areca nut were pro- 
cured from Arracan, which he identifies with the country of the Kir- 
rhadee, celebrated for its Malabathrum, and that the Sesatee, whom he 
supposes to have been the Tartars of Lassa, were the carriers of this 
article along with other merchandize from that country to the frontier 
of China. Dr. Vincent’s interpretation, however, fails to explain the 
circumstances which are connected with the manufacture and ultimate 
disposal of this article of traffic ; and is not reconcileable with the text. 
The Sesatze are there represented as bringing the article described by the 
word aaumeAivoy, from which Petros and Malabathrum were made, 
from their own country to a mart on its border ; as bartering it for arti- 
cles on which they kept a feast for several days; and as then returning 
to their country in the interior. Their neighbours, the Thine, then 
prepared the substances of Petros and Malabathrum, and brought them 
to India. The supposition that the Thinze are the people of the valley of 
Assam, and the Sesatee one of the aboriginal tribes bordermg on that 
country, is in accordance with the statements of the text. Dr. Vincent, on 
the other hand, represents the Sesatee or Tartars of Lassa as bringing the 
articles from which Petros and Malabathrum were formed, from a dis- 
tant foreign country (Arracan) to the frontier of China. But, indepen- 


38 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


dently of this being opposed to the text, it is difficult to comprehend 
why betel-leaf and areca nut should be carried to so great a distance for 
the mere purpose of being made into balls, and afterwards brought back 
to India under the name of Malabathrum, as is there mentioned. Wil- 
ford gives a very different interpretation of this passage of the Sequel. He 
supposes that Malabathrum is a kind of tea, which is prepared in the 
form of balls, and sold at some of the frontier towns of Ava, Assam, and 
Laos. He considers the Sesate as identical with a gipsey tribe called 
Besadee, who are hucksters by trade, and who, in this capacity, frequent 
the different fairs throughout the country. The Besatz, he supposes, 
made small baskets of certain leaves as large as those of the vine, which 
they sewed together with the fibres of the bamboo: and then filled with 
leaves of a certain plant rolled into balls, which were of three sorts ac- 
cording to the quality and size of the leaves. The Petros of the text, 
he supposes to be the leaf of the Dhac tree (Butea frondosa) which is 
used all over India to make baskets, and which are fastened with skewers 
from the fibres of the bamboo. According to this interpretation, mala- 
bathrum or tea, was sold by the Thine or Chinese to the Sesatze or 
Besatze, who brought it into India for sale. But the reverse of this is’ 
stated in the text, viz., that the Sesate brought the article of which 
Malabathrum was formed from the interior of their country, and sold it 
to the Thinze, who made it into balls which they (the Thine) conveyed 
into India. 

Petros and Malabathrum consisted neither of betel nor tea, but of dif- 
ferent parts of the trees yielding Tejpatra and Cassia Lignea. The former 
is the dark, and the latter are the leaves of one or more species of trees of 
the genus Cinnamomum. That Malabathrum is identical with Cinna- 
momum albiflorum is established by the fact, that Saduj is the name 
which is given to Malabathrum in the writings of the Arabs, while Saduj 
is applied in Persian works to Tejapatra or Tejpata, which is the Cinna- 


3 


momum of Botanists. ‘ Malatroon,” says Royle, ‘is assigned as the 
Greek name in Persian Materia Medica.’ Cinnamomum albiflorum is 
also designated Tuj and Patruj* in Hindoostan—the former name being 
generally applied to the /eaf, and the latter to the dark of the tree. Tuj, 
Tejpata, or Tejapatra, by all of which names this leaf is known, is used as 

* Royle’s Illustrations of Botany of the Himalayan Mountains, p. 325. Dr. But- 
ter’s Topography of Oude, p. 43. 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §e.  ~ 39 


a condiment in all parts of India. It is indigenous in Sylhet, Assam, 
Rungpore, and in the valleys along the base of the mountain range, as 
far as Mussouri. The dry branches and leaves are brought annually in 
large quantities from the former place, and sold at a fair which is held 
in Vicramapura, close to the supposed site of the Gangetic mart of the 
Sequel. Tuj, however, is a name that is also given in the eastern part 
of Bengal, to the bark of a variety of Cmnamomum Zeylanicum, or 
Cassia lignea, which abounds in the valleys of Cachar, Jyntea, and 
Assam. Mr. Landers describes Cassia lignea, as indigenous and growing 
luxuriantly, along the second range of the Naga hills in Assam, as plen- 
tiful at Tublong, Chackting, and Nokangies, and as an article that 
is brought to the plains by the Abor tribes of Yung-yack, Tangsee, and 
Tamlow.* It is prepared and sold by the Khassias in the Cherra Poonjee 
bazar, whence it is exported to Sylhet, Dacca, and other marts in the 
eastern part of Bengal. Moghul merchants repair to the former place 
for the express purpose of purchasing cinnamon. As Tuy, therefore, is 
an appellation that is applied to Cinnamomum albiflorum, and Cassia 
lignea, so Patruj, which is the name of the bark of the former, may, in 
like manner, have been used in ancient times, to designate the quills of 
the bark of the latter tree. Itis probable, therefore, that the words, 
ekiidoavtTes KaAdmous Tovs Aeyouevous wéeTpous, refer to the bark of C. Zeyla- 
nicum or Cassia lignea; and therefore, instead of signifying “they 
pick out the haulm which is called Petros” as they are translated by 
Dr. Vincent, they should be rendered they peel the pipes or quills [or 
the bark| called Petros ;—«a\dyous having reference to the tubular or 
hollow cylindrical form, which the bark of cinnamon assumes in drying, 
and 7«tTpovs being a corruption of Patraj or Putruj, the name of the bark 
of Cinnamomum albiflorum, and no doubt, formerly also that of Cassia 
lignea. The account, which is given in the Sequel regarding the mode 
of preparing Petros and Malabathrum, seems to imply that the Sesatze 
brought the green branches of the Cinnamomum albiflorum, and Cassia 
lignea trees, from the forests in the interior of their country, to the 
marts on the frontier, and sold them there to the Thine or Assamese, 
who peeled the bark called Petros. This, probably, was done after the 
ripening of the fruit, which is considered the best season for peeling the 
bark of the Cinnamon or Cassia tree: and it is, apparently, to this 


* Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Vol. II. No. X. 


40 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


circumstance, viz., to the branches having the fruit on them, when 
brought for sale, that Arrian alludes when he describes them by the 
term HaumeAlvwv, or in other words, as being in external appearance, 
like the early fruit of the vine. The Thine or Assamese having peeled 
the branches of the Cassia tree [literally the quills or pipes called Pe- 
tros] proceeded next to prepare Malabathrum. For this purpose they 
picked the leaves, and folding them double, they rolled them into small 
balls and passed a cord or string, made of the fibres of the bark through 
them émldrerroy émiditAdcarvtes TA PiAAG Kal gpaipoEldh worodyTes, Sielpovor amd 
Tay Kadduwv ives. "These balls, which appear to have consisted each of a 
single leaf, were made of three sorts, which were designated according 
to their size, the large, the middle-sized, and the small yivera: 5 yévn tpla 
ex méev TOD perCovos PYAAOV, TL adpdaatpoy wardBabpoy Acydmevoy. ek 5& TOD uTO- 
Seesepov, Td merdspoupoy, ek Se fIKpoTEepov TO juKpoTTpatpoy_—a distinction 
which seems to indicate that three varieties or species of the genus Cinna- 
momum, differing from each other, in the size of the leaf, or in the strength 
of its aromatic flavor, were used for the preparation of Malabathrum. Dr. 
Buchanan has described three species of Tejpata, and it is probable that 
the three kinds of Malabathrum, here referred to, consisted of the Cin- 
namomum Albiflorum, the Cinnamomum Tamala, and the Cinmmamomum 
Zeylanicum.* The term Malabathrum is generallysupposed to be a com- 
pound of Tamala (one of the Sanserit names of C. albiflorum) and putra 
(a leaf) :—the original word Tamalapatra having been corrupted by 
Greek and Latin writers into #eA¢Sa@poy, and this again into Malabathrum. 
Garcias first suggested this as its probable derivation : “ Appellant autem 
Indi, Folium Tamalapatra quam vocem Greeci ad Latini imitantes corrupte 
Malabathrum nuncuparunt.” It has been conjectured by others, that 
Malabathrum is derived from ‘‘ Malabar,” and the word “ bathrum,”’ 
which is supposed to have been the name given to betel in that province. 
* Ferunt apud Indos nasci in ea regione que Malabar dicitur : verna- 
cula ipsorum lingua bathrum sive bethrum appelari inde Greecos compo- 
sita voce nominasse.”’ (H. Stephani Thesaurus Linguee Greecee, Vol. IV. 
1412.) It is very evident, however, that this cannot be regarded as the 
origin of the term, for it is stated in the Periplus, that the name was 
given to the article on the confines of 'Thina where it was obtained, and 


* Dr. Buchanan has described several species of Malabathrum leaf or Tejapatra. 
(See Trans. Linnean Scc, Vol. XITI. p. 556.) 


1847. ] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. 4] 


that under this designation, it was brought into India by those who 
prepared it. It is more probable, that Malabathrum is derived from 
the Sanscrit words mala (a garland) and putra (a leaf) ; the compound 
malapatra, which is thus formed, and which signifies a garland or string 
of leaves, having been subsequently corrupted into “aAd&Badpoy or Mala- 
bathrum. This etymology of the term, mdeed, is indicated by the 
details given in the text regarding the mode of preparing Malabathrum ; 
for it is there mentioned, that the leaves were made into bails, and that 
the fibres of the plant were passed through them ; “ that in this form’’ 
the article took the name of Malabathrum : and that “ under this deno- 
mination,’ it was brought [from the confines of Thina or borders of 
Assam] into India, by those who prepared it. The name, it will be ob- 
served, was not given to the leaves in their original state, or the state in 
which they were brought by the Sesatee from the forests in the interior ; 
but was applied to them after they had undergone a certain manipula- 
tion, viz., when made into small balls, and strung together on the fibres 
of the plant, in the form of a garland or a thread of beads. This mode 
of preparing the leaves of the Cinnamon or Cassia tree appears to have 
been adopted in order to preserve the aromatic-stimulant properties of 
Malabathrum during its transportation to distant countries. The small 
balls, of which Malabathrum consisted, were each composed of a single 
leaf (the Pilule Malabathri of the older commentators), and were used 
as a masticatory. That Malabathrum was applied to this purpose, is 
stated in the text ; and, that it was so used by the Greeks and Romans, 
is tolerably certain from the remarks which are made regarding it by 
ancient authors. Dioscorides states that it was placed under the tongue 
to purify the breath ; and that it was a tonic to the stomach: vroriéera 
8 7H yAdoon mpds evwitay sduaros. Pliny also ascribes the former property to 
it : “‘sapor ejus nardo similis esse debet sub lingua oris et halitus suavi- 
tatem commendat lmguce subditum folium.* Eastern India appears to 
have furnished the greater portion, if not the whole, of the Malabathrum 
that was imported by the ancients. Though Cinnamomum albiflorum 
is indigenous in Malabar, and Coromandel, yet no mention is made of 
Malabathrum having been prepared from it in these countries. This 
article together with others is noticed as an import into Nelkunda on the 
Malabar coast, from countries farther to the east,+ ¢Aépas kal dgdvia onpind 

* Pliny. Lib. XXIII. Chap. 48. + Vincent’s Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, p. 462. 

G 


42 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


xal ydpdos 7) yaTavind (rendered yoyyimkn) rai wardBadoy éx tay éow térwv. The 
articles of merchandize here mentioned are the productions of Eastern 
India, and were, no doubt, exported from the Gangetic mart. Mala- 
bathrum appears to have been shipped to Nelkunda, Limurike, and the 
other ports of Southern India, and was thence exported to the countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean, where it was known by various names, 
besides that of Malabathrum, as piAAov wiikoyv—ogaipia waraBabpov—purrov 
xaracpepov*—_Herba Paradisii—Folium—appellations which refer to 
the country where it was produced, the form of its preparation, and 
the high estimation in which it was held by the ancients. Malabathrum, 
besides being used as a masticatory, constituted an imgredient in the 
Mithridatic antidote,+ and in the Theraica ; it was also infused or mace- 
rated in wine, and was employed as an aromatic and tonic. The leaves 
and bark of Cassia lignea yield an essential oil, which enters into the 
composition of many of the odoriferous oils which are prepared by the 
natives of India. It is extracted by boiling the bark of Tuj with a 
quantity of fixed oil and water, during which process, the essential be- 
comes incorporated with the fixed oil, to which it imparts its odour. 
The Romans were in the habit of preparing this perfume by mace- 
rating both the leaf ¢vAdov, and the wood or bark gvAopvAAoy, in fixed oil 
in the manner which is practised by the natives. It is probable, how- 
ever, that the leaves of other Indian plants, besides those of the Cimna- 
mon and Cassia trees, were imported into Rome under the name of 
Malabathrum, for the purpose of being used in perfumes or ointments. 
Dioscorides describes Malabathrum as a plant found growing without 
roots on the surface of marshes, and remarks that it is by feeding on its 
leaves that the Onychia becomes aromatic. Pliny states that this kind 
of Malabathrum is more odoriferous than saffron: that it is of a black 
colour: rough to the touch, and of a salt taste: and that its flavor 
ought to resemble that of Nard. He adds that the perfume which 
Malabathrum or the leaf yields, when it is boiled in wine surpasses all 
others.{ Malabathrum, in all probability, was a generic term, which 
was applied to leaves of different plants rolled up in the manner which 
is described in the text, and it may, therefore, be regarded as the name, 
* Art. Malabathrum et Foliatum. Lexicon Universale, Hoffman, A. D. 1698. 


t+ Vide Celsus de Medicina, Lib, V. Chap. XXTII. 
t Pliny. Lib. XII. C. XXVI. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, ce. 43 


not of a particular plant, but of @ mode of preparing leaves which was 
adopted to preserve their odoriferous and aromatic qualities. The mas- 
ticatory called Malabathrum consisted solely of the leaves of the Tej- 
patra; but the perfume, which was designated by the same name, ap- 
pears to have been prepared from other plants, besides the leaves and 
wood of Cassia. The unguent of this name was manufactured and 
sold at Rome by a class of persons who, from the trade or business 
they followed, were called Malabathrarii (Malabathrarii vocabantur un- 
guentarii qui malabathrum unguentum pretiosissimum vendebant.) 
(Plaut. Aul. III. 5. 37.)* 

Arrian concludes his narrative by stating that all the regions beyond. 
Thina were unexplored, either on account of the severe frosts and the 
difficulties of travelling, or because it was perhaps the will of the gods 
to fix these limits to the curiosity of man. This account seems to refer 
to the region of Uttara-Cura which is described by the Hindoos as inac- 
cessible to the steps of man, and to the rays of the sun. The name 
was applied to the north-eastern portion of the Himalayan mountains ; 
and according to Professor Wilson, this region appears to be the north- 
eastern part of Assam, designated by Ptolemy—Ottorocaras, and by 
Ammianus Marcellinus—Opurrocarra. The lofty mountains, which 
bound the eastern extremity of this valley, belong to the Himalayan 
range, and are, it is calculated, about 8000 feet im height. 

The country of the Seres is the Thina of Arrian, which I have en- 
deavoured to identify with Assam. The name of Seres appears to have 
been applied both to the inhabitants of the valley of Assam and to the 
hill tribes bordering on it, and hence the Seres of some authors are the 
Sesatze of the Seqnel to the Periplus. 

Pomponius Mela mentions the country of the Seres as situated be- 
tween India and Scythia, and describes them as a people celebrated for 
their justice. “They have become known to us,” says he, “by their 
commerce, for they leave their merchandize in the desert and then retire 
till the merchants they deal with, have left a price or barter for the 
amount which, upon their departure, the Seres return and take.” + The 


* Syrian Malabathrum was that imported into Europe via Syria ‘‘ ex India in 
Syriam (unde Syriaci cognomen) inde in Europam adferebantur.”’ Lexicon Univer- 
sale, Hoffm. Art. Malabathrum. 

t De situ orbis. Pomp. Melac, Lib. III. C, VII. 

G 2 


dA Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


mode of conducting traffic which is here described is so similar to that 
mentioned in the Sequel, that there caunot be a doubt, I think, that the 
Seres and Sesatze are identical. Justice, which is mentioned by Pompo- 
nius Mela as a characteristic of the Seres, means here, honesty in car- 
rying on traffic, and a strict regard for truth—virtues which all the hill 
tribes on the eastern frontier of Bengal have the character of possessing 
in aneminent degree. The desert is the jungle or forest (aruni) at the 
foot of the hills, where the hill people barter their goods to the merchants 
of the plains. | 

Pliny gives a similar description of the Seres. He states that they 
are a quiet, and inoffensive people, but that they resemble wild beasts in 
one respect, namely, that they flee from the sight of men, or rather that 
they shun intercourse or personal communication with other people, 
though they are at the same time desirous of carrying on traffic with 
them.* This, no doubt, refers to the caution and reserve which the 
hill tribes have always exhibited in their traffic with the people of the 
plains. Pliny also mentions the Seres as celebrated for silk which their 
woods produced. In speaking of the embassy from Ceylon to the em- 
peror Claudius, he represents the chief ambassador as stating that they 
(the people of Ceylon) knew the Seres through the medium or channel 
of trade, and that his (the ambassador’s) father, by name Rachia, had 
often visited them. He informed the emperor that if strangers ap- 
proached the country of the Seres, they incurred the risk of being 
assailed by wild beasts—a remark, which seems to imply, that there 
was a dense jungle infested with beasts of prey on the frontier of Serica, 
and that it was dangerous for persons unacquainted with the paths or 
toads through it to travel to Serica. ‘The Seres are described by the 
ambassador as giants or people exceeding the ordinary stature of men, 
as having red hair, and blue eyes, and as speaking an unintelligible lan- 
guage, which rendered it difficult to carry on trade with them.f Pliny 
mentions that the first river in the country of the Seres was called 
Psitaras (the Tistha in Rungpore?), and that in carrying on traffic with 
them, the merchants placed their merchandize on the farther side of 
the river. Ifthe Seres wished to barter, they took the goods which 
were there deposited, and left the commodities which the foreign mer- 
chants wanted in exchange. The people referred to by the ambassador 

* Pliny. Lib. VI. C. XVII. t Ibid. Lib, VI. C. XXII. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 45 


appear to be the Bhotiyas, who area tall race of men, and who probably 
. dyed their hair of ared colour. According to Klaproth,* the ancient Tibe- 
tans called Khiang, who were of the Bhotiyah race, painted their faces of a 
red colour. The Bhotiyas repair to the great fair held annually in the 
Rungpore district, and it was probably here that Rachia, the ambassa- 
dor’s father, saw them. Pliny himself, im describing the Seres, seems 
to allude to the aboriginal tribes of Rungpore bordering on Assam. 
The forests of their country produced silk (¢assar) which was bartered on 
the banks of a river described as the first in their territory, and which 
was perhaps the frontier between Bengal and Assam. The barter was 
carried on in the manner mentioned by Arrian and Pomponius Mela. 

Pausanias mentions two nations of the Seres. Holwell in his Dic- 
tionary extracted from “ Bryant’s Analysis of Ancient Mythology” 
states : “ Pausanias (L. 6. p. 519.) describes two nations of the Seres 
who were of an Ethiopic, Indic and Sythic family. The first was upon 
the Ganges, the other region of the Seres is the same with China, and 
lies opposite to the island of Japan, called by Pausanias Abasa and 
Sacaia.”’ The Ethiopic and Indic Seres here mentioned are the hill tribes 
and the people of the valley of Assam. The term Lthiopic was applied 
to the former from the similarity of some of their features to those of 
the Negro race. Megasthenes compares the inhabitants of India with 
the Ethiopians. Sir William Jones also remarks, ‘that the mountain- 
eers of Bengal and Behar can hardly be distinguished in some of their 
features, particularly in their lips and noses, from the modern Abyssini- 
ans ;”—a fact which he adduces in confirmation of the opinion that 
Ethiopia and Hindoostan were peopled or colonized by negroes.t The 
Indic Seres, on the other hand, were a people who cccupied the lower 
or western part of the valley next to the Ganges, and who consisted of 
the descendants of the early Hindoo invaders of the country and of the 
aboriginal inhabitants of the plains. The Scythic Seres may be regard- 
ed as the Thinze or Sinze who occupied Upper Assam and the region 
extending to the gulf of Siam, opposite to which was the island of Abasa 
or Sacaia, which is apparently Java. | 

The vea BdpBapa Snpav of Dionysius are the Sesatee of Arrian, or 
some kindred uncivilized hill tribe bordering on Assam. He describes 
' * Nouv. Journal Asiatique, Tom. 4, p. 104. 

+ As. Res. Vol. I. p. 427. } Orb. Descript, V. 752. 


46 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAn. 


them as possessing neither flocks nur herds, but as employed in gather- 
ing from the flowers of the desert, a substance that was carded and woven 
into precious or costly fabrics, which surpassed in the variety and rich- 
ness of their colors the mingled beauties of the enameled mead, and 
which rivalled in their delicate texture, even the fineness of the spider’s 
web. The material here referred to, is fassar or moonga silk, which 
abounds in the forests or jungles of Assam (the desert arwni mentioned 
in the text), and the rich and varied colours that are mentioned, were no 
doubt, imparted to it by the indigenous dyes of Assam, namely, Jac, 
room, manjit, and mismee-tita, which give the beautiful red and blue 
colours with which the silks of that country are prepared in the present 
day. 

The Schiratee or Siratee of Elian are evidently the Ethiopic Seres of 
Pausanius, or the Sesatze of the Sequel. They are mentioned as a peo- 
ple with flat noses, situated in India ultra Gangem—in whose country 
there were serpents of an enormous size (Boa or python tigris) that de- 
voured cattle. Sir. W. Jones regards the country of the Siratee of Elian 
as identical with Sylhet, Siret or Srihaut, a place, which he states, was 
celebrated among the ancients for the fragrant essence extracted from 
Malabathrum.* The Seres mentioned by Horace, 


‘* Doctus sagittas tendere Sericas 
Arcu paterno? e 
Hor. Lib. i. 29. 


are the mountain tribes bordering on Assam, all of whom are expert at 
the use of the bow and arrow. 

The Seres are mentioned by ancient writers as a people who are re- 
markable for their longevity. They were said to live to the age of two 
hundred years. Ctesias and Elian state that the fruit of a tree called 
Siptachora, from which amber exuded, and upon which there was found 
a small insect yielding a purple dye, possessed the virtue of prolonging 
life to the same number of years. It would seem from this circum- 
stance that the Seres inhabited the country in which the Siptachora grew, 
and as there can be no doubt that the insect alluded to is the lac insect, 
it may be concluded that Lower Assam is the region which is here re- 
ferred to. This is rendered the more probable from the account which 
Ctesias gives of this country. Wilford mentions that Ctesias (accord- 


* Works of Sir W. Jones, Vol. VI. p. 384. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 47 


ing to a passage in the Bibliotheca of Photius) gives the name of Hy- 
parcho to the river which proceeded from the country whence the Sip- 
tachora was brought. “The mountains abound with trees hanging 
over the numerous streams which flow through them. Once a year 
during thirty days tears flow plentifully from them, which falling into 
the waters beneath coagulate into Amber. These trees, the Hindoos 
call Sipa-chora. In the country about the sources of this river there is 
a flower of a purple color which gives a dye, not inferior to the Grecian, 
but even much brighter. There is also an insect living upon these 
- amber-bearing trees the fruit of which they eat, and with these insects 
bruised, they dye stuffs, for close vestures, and long gowns of a purple 
colour superior to the Persian. These mountaineers having collected 
the amber and the prepared materials of the purple dye, carry the 
whole on board of boats with the dried fruit of the tree, which is good to 
eat, and then convey their goods by water to different parts of India. 
A great quantity they carry to the emperor (the king of Magad’ha) 
to the amount of about one thousand talents. In return they take 
bread, meal, and coarse cloth. They sell also their swords, bows and 
arrows.’ * Assam appears to be the country which is here referred to 
by Ctesias. Lower Assam abounds in lac, while munjit, mishmi-tita 
and room, which are found in Upper Assam, are apparently the dyes 
that are mentioned, as produced about the sources of the river Hypar- 
cho. Room is a species of Ruellia, of the family of Acanthacea. Dr. 
Griffiths states, that with it the deep blue cloths of the Kamptis and 
Singphos are dyed; he calls it “a valuable dye and highly worthy of 
attention.”’+ According to Ctesias the term rapxos “ Hyparcho,” the 
name that was given to the river proceeding from the country in which 
the ormraxépa pvew, means Pepwy wavra rh aya6d, i, e. “ producing all good 
things.” t{ This must have reference to the valuable merchandize con- 
sisting of silk, lac, and other dyes, lign aloe, musk, ivory, gold, silver, 
and steel, which were exported to India, via the Brahmaputra.§ 

Strabo mentions that the Seres formed a republic or commonwealth ; 


* Wilford’s Essay on Anugangam. As. Res. Vol. IX. p. 65. 

t+ Journal of Asiatic Society. 

¢ Heeren’s As. Nations, Vol. II. Appendix, IV. p 380. 

§ Amber is still found in the north-eastern parts of Assam in considerable 


quantities, or rather between Assam and Burmah, 


48 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


and that it was governed by a council of five thousand persons, every 
one of whom found or provided an elephant for the use of the State. 
“Nam Seres tam longee dicuntur vitee ut ducentesimum annum exce- 
dant. Ferunt etiam quendam optimatum ordinem rempublicam guber- 
nare ex quingue millibus consiliorum constantem, quorum quisque 
elephantem reipublice preebeat.”’ (Strabo, Latin text, p. 702.) This 
seems to have reference to the Raj corporations of Assam. Major 
Fisher remarks: “the most ancient form of tenure by which land was 
held in Assam was under a grant from the prince addressed to a body 
of proprietors, who were erected into a corporation called a Raj, and 
who possessed the land on terms by which they were bound each for 
the other and for the whole estate. The proprietors of land in every 
Raj were classified according as they paid revenue to the prince direct, 
or to some one in whose favour an assignment was made. The Raj 
was entrusted with the local administration of affairs and transacted 
business in periodical meetings.’’* It is probable that the council of 
five thousand, which Strabo mentions, consisted of the heads or chiefs 
of these corporations, and that each Raj was bound to provide an ele- 
phant for the service of the State. The circumstance of the country 
of the Seres furnishing the number of elephants here specified is, of it- 
self, sufficient to identify Serica with Assam. ‘There is no other coun- 
try in the situation assigned to Serica, namely, on the north of India — 
extra Gangem and of Sina or Siam, than Assam, that abounds in ele- 
phants, and it may, therefore, be inferred from this fact, coupled with 
the accounts of other ancient writers, who describe Serica as an exten- 
sive and fertile valley watered by large rivers, and abounding in silk, 
that Assam is the country that is here referred to. It is estimated that 
upwards of 700 elephants are exported annually from Assam: many 
also are killed for the sake of their tusks. 

Ptolemy describes the Seres and Sinze as contiguous nations. India 
extra Gangem, which comprised Arracan, Pegu, and Ava,—constitut- 
ing the Argentea regio and Aurea Chersonesus of Ptolemy—is mention- 
ed by him, as being divided from the country of the Sine by a line 
commencing at the extremity of Serica, and extending through the 
middle of the great bay (Sinus Magnus) on the south. 

The country of the Sinz therefore was adjacent on the west to India 


* Journal of Asiatic Society, No. 104. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. 49 


extra Gangem. It is described as bounded by unknown regions on the 
east, by the sea on the south, and by Serica on the north. The Sine 
appear to have been the ancestors of the modern Siamese, of the Shyans 
of Laos, and other adjoining States, and of the Ahoms of Assam. The 
Siamese, who are a branch of the Laos, separated from them A. D. 
813. The Laos civil era, or that of the imtroduction of Buddhism 
into that country, commenced A. D. 638.* The Shyan chronicle pre- 
served in Munipore states that the ancient territory of the Shyans was 
called Pong, and that it constituted a kingdom, the capital of which 
was Mogaung or Mongmaorong, as it is called by the Shyans. Their 
first king, named Khool-liee, reigned in the 80th year of the Christian 
era. Chukapha, the first Ahom king of Assam, of whom there is any 
authentic information extant, reigned in the 13th century. It appears, 
however, from this chronicle, that some centuries anterior to this, As- 
sam was invaded by Samlongpha and placed by him under the dominion 
of his brother Sukampha, king of Pong. Thisis said to have occur- 
red about the year A. D. 77.+ It has been discovered that there are no 
traces or mention of Buddhism in the religion of the Ahoms, and it is 
therefore, inferred, that they emigrated to Assam before A. D. 638, the 
era of the introduction of the Buddhist faith into Laos.t This cireum- 
stance, coupled with the fact of the Ahoms having a list of the names 
of forty-eight kings descending from the god Indra down to Chukapha, 
renders it probable that they were in possession of Upper Assam at an 
early period, or as far back, at least, as the second century—the era in 
which Arrian and Ptolemy wrote. The name of Thai, which signifies 
“free,” is supposed by Capt. Low to have been assumed by the Siamese 
at the time they separated from the Laos. It seems not improbable, 
however, that itis of more remote origin, and that Thai is the root of 
Thine, while Shyan is that of Sinee—the names by which the inhabit- 
ants of the Laos and Siamese territories were known to the ancients. 
Thai Nai, it may be remarked, is an appellation which is given to the 
central Siamese, and Thinee appears as the name of a town in 23° N. L. 
98° E. L. in the territory of the Shyans dependent on Ava. The Laos 
also called their country “Chi Mai,” signifying “ Priests’ dominion,’’§ 


* Capt. Low’s History of Tennasserim, Jour. Royal As. Soc. Vol. V. p. 209. 
+ Pemberton’s Report on the Eastern Frontier, p. 110. 
~ Journal Royal As. Soc. Vol. V. p. 250. § Thid. 

EE 


a0 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


and it is probable, that from this word is derived Chimay, which was 
the name given by the older geographers to alake, whence the Brahma- 
putra was supposed to issue. 

Serica is described by Ptolemy, as bounded on the east and north by 
unknown countries, on the west by Scythia extra Imaum, and on the 
south by India extra Gangem and the country of the Sm. The words 
which describe the relative position of the latter nation, are in the La- 
tin text; ‘‘Quodque supra Sinas, Serum jacet regio et metropolis.” * 
This evidently refers to Upper Assam, which may, therefore, be con- 
sidered as the country, in which, Sera, the metropolis of the Sinze (=npas 
THS Twv Zwov yntTpoworAcws) was situated. A river called Serus is represent- 
ed by Ptolemy, as rising in a situation apparently corresponding with 
that of the mountains in which the Irawaddee has its origin, and as run- 
ning to the south, through India extra Gangem. The latitude, which is 
assigned to Sera, is ten degrees north of that of Sadiya in Upper Assam 
—the former being mentioned as 38° N. L. and the latter being 28° N. 
L.—an error which is, no doubt, to be attributed to the very vague and 
imperfect knowledge which the ancients had of this country. 

The journey from the Stone Tower to the frontier of Serica occupied 
a space of seven months. It is described as attended with many diffi- 
culties and hardships, and it seems to have been from the account of 
the bleak inhospitable regions of Bootan and Thibet, the excessive cold 
of the climate, and the severe storms which the travellers encountered : 
“‘via autem quee est a turra lapideaad Seras vehementissimis obnoxia 
est tempestatibus,”+ that Ptolemy was induced to assign to Sera the 
northern latitude which is mentioned above. Marinus derived his infor- 
mation regarding the route to Serica from Maés of Macedon, called 
Titianus, who sent agents from the Stone Tower to trade with the people 
of that country. He describes the route, which the caravan travelled 
from Byzantium to the Stone Tower, as crossing Mesopotamia from the 
Euphrates to the Tigris, as proceeding through Assyria and Media to 
Ecbatana, to Hecatompylos, and to Margiana, and thence through Aria, 
or Herat, to Bactria or Balk. It next crossed a range of mountains 
called Montes Comedorum, whence it proceeded through the country of 
the Sacee, and then arrived at the Stone Tower.t Different sites have 
been assigned to the latter place, but it is probable, notwithstanding the 


* Ptol. Lib. I. Chap. XVII. t+ Ibid. Chap. XI. } Ibid. Chap. XII. 


1847.| Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 51 


position given to the Montes Comedorum to the north-east of Bactria, 
that it was a station near one of those Topes or lofty towers, which are 
to be seen in the kingdom of Cabul. No itinerary appears to have 
been kept of the route from this place to the frontier of Serica, but 
from the account which is given of it, and of the difficulties that occur- 
red im travelling through the intervening country, it seems to have been 
identical with that mentioned by Arrian from Thina to Bactria, or with 
the route from Bootan to Cabul and thence to Balk, which is deseribed 
by Tavernier, as extending “over deserts and mountains covered with 
snow, tedious and troublesome as far as Cabul, where the caravans part, 
some for great Tartary, others for Balk.” 

It would appear that the merchants, who traded with the Seres, were 
not allowed to enter the country of the latter, but that they carried on 
traffic with them at an opening or pass in the mountain Imaus. This 
evidently refers to one of the duwars or mountain passes into Assam, 
where the merchants from Bhotan and Thibet formerly assembled to 
traffic. The circumstance of strangers having been prohibited from en- 
tering Serica has been regarded as an indubitable proof of the identity 
of that country with China, but the same jealousy of foreigners, it may 
be remarked, existed among the Assamese, and led to their exclusion 
from their territory. Dr. Buchanan remarks that in former times the 
only communication that was permitted by the Assamese between their 
own country and Bengal, was by the pass of Luckhah, eighteen miles 
north of Sylhet, and that of Bookool in Cachar, all access by the 
Brahmaputra having been strictly prohibited. Dr. Wade also states, 
“strangers of every description and country were scrupulously denied 
admission into Assam.”* The same prohibition was enforced against the 
admission of strangers through the duwars or passes leading into it from 
Bootan and Thibet, and it appears, therefore, to have been at one of 
these passes, described as an opening in Imaus, that the agents of Ti- 
tanius carried on their trade with the Sinz, Seres, or Assamese. There 
are two routes from Bootan and Thibet to Assam, by which a commercial 
intercourse is carried on in the present day. That from Bootan is by 
the valley of the Monas, vid Tassgong and Dewangiri: the other does 
not enter any part of the Deb and Dhurma Rajah’s dominions, but ex- 
tends through a tract of country dependent on Lassa, from Towung to 

* Martin’s Eastern India. Vol. 3. p. 626. 
H 2 


a2 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


the Kooreeaparah Duwar. The traffic is conducted by a class of Tibe- 
tans called Kumpas, an appellation that is given to the inhabitants of the 
southern part of Thibet or that portion of it which is included within the 
great bend of the Sanpo up tothe point where it enters the Abor hills. 
The Kumpas proceed to Hajoo in Assam, the resort of pilgrims from 
Bootan and Thibet, and carry on their traffic at the great annual fair 
which is held there. “ It is estimated” says Capt. Pemberton, “that 
during the season there are about two thousand Kumpas assembled at 
Dewangiri, where they erect huts for temporary oceupation on the sub- 
ordinate heights. On quitting the hills to descend to the plains they 
are accompained by Gurpas and Zeenkafs on the part of the Dewangiri 
Rajah, from whom they obtain passports and pledge themselves to re- 
turn by a stated period. “‘ The goods they bring, consist of red and party- 
coloured blankets, gold dust, silver, rock salt, chowrees, musk, and a 
few coarse Chinese silks, munjeet and bees wax :”’ these they exchange 
for lac, the raw and manufactured silks of Assam (the ¢pioy ai 7d o8ovi0r 
zo onpixoy of the Periplus), cotton, dried fish and tobacco: they re- 
turn homewards during the months of February and March, taking care 
to leave the place before the return of the hot weather or rains.”* In 
1809 this trade amounted to two lacs of rupees. The principal article 
that was purchased by the Kumpas was silk, consisting both of the 
muga and eria kinds. 

That Assam is the country that is referred to by Ptolemy, is further 
probable from the fact stated by him, namely, that there was another 
route to Serica vid Palibothra: ‘ quod non solum inde ad Bactra iter si 
per turrim lapideam, sed et in Indiam quoque per Palimbothra.”+ This 
might be regarded as referring to the route through Nepal and Thibet 
to China, but it seems more probable that it has allusion to the Brahma- 
putra and the entrance to Assam by Gowalpara, which is the route by 
the Ganges mentioned by Arrian, or that by which merchandize was 
exported to Limurike. 

Again, Ptolemy remarks that beyond, or to the east of Serica, there 
was an unknown or unexplored country containing lakes or marshes, m 
which grew large canes, so compact or close to each other, that the in- 
habitants in the neighbourhood were in the habit of using them as 


* Vide Pemberton’s Report on Bootan, p. 144. 
+ Ptol. Lib. 1, Chap, XVIT. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 53 


bridges ; “‘ ac quod his orientalior terra sit imcognita stagna habens 
paludosa in quibus calami nascuntur magni et ita compacti ut accolee 
transfretare soleant:’* or according to the Periplus Marciani Hera- 
cleotze, “ paludes habens uliginosas in quibus calami magni nascuntur, 
atque adeo densi et conferti, ut per illos sibi invicem adheerentes fiant 
transitus.”+ There seems to be an allusion here to the cane bridges, 
which are so common in the hill countries bordering on Upper Assam ; 
or to the roots or branches of trees growing on the opposite sides of 
streams or pools and so intertwined as to afford a passage across them. 
Lieut. Yule, speaking of bridges of this kind in the vicinity of Cherra 
Poonjee, remarks, that while travelling through that country, he saw 
such bridges in every stage, and that one measured 90 feet in span: 
they were generally composed of the roots of two opposite trees bound 
together in the middle. (Vide Journal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIII. 
p. 613.) 

Ptolemy states that mountains surround Serica,(montes autem cingunt 
Sericam,) and that it is traversed to a considerable extent by two large 
rivers—a description which proves that Seriea was a valley. The moun- 
tains surrounding Serica were designated the Annibi, which appear to be 
the Abor hills; the dueacii extending from Scythia extra Imaum into 
Serica, which are apparently the Auka hills on the northern side of 
Assam: Mount Casius, or the mountain where the Brahmakund is 
situated: Mount Thagurus, apparently the Tabis of Pomponius Mela, 
and Pliny, which seems to be Reging ; and the chain or range of the 
Emodi or Himalaya, the eastern parts of which were called Sericus and 
Ottorocorras—the latter being identical with the Uttara Cura of the 
Hindoos, or the snowy range which separates Assam from the country 
of the Lamas. 

Two rivers called Oechardes, and Bautes or Bautisus, flowed through 
Serica. They are delineated in the map of Serica, attached to Ptolemy’s 
Geography as running to the north; but this must be an error, as there 
is no country in the situation assigned to Serica, namely, bordering on 
India extra Gangem (Burmah) and the country of the Sine (Siam 
and Laos) on the north, which has rivers proceeding in this direction. 
It is evident that the rivers, which are alluded to, are the Sanpoo or 


* Ptol. Lib. I. Chap. XVII. 
+ Vide Geoghaph. Vet. Script. Grace. Minor. Hudson, p. 29. 


54 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAn. 


Eroochoomboo, and the Brahmaputra, and that the error in their deli- 
neation in the maps of Ptolemy’s Geography by Agathodeemon, con- 
sists in their being laid down, as running /o, instead of from, the north 
or north-east. The Oecchardes is described by Ptolemy, as having its 
origin in Scythia extra Imaum, as flowing through that country, as having 
a great bend or curve in its course, and as afterwards entering Serica. 
This exactly corresponds with the Sanpoo which runs through Thibet, and 
which has an extensive bend or turn in its course before it enters Assam. 
The Bautes is the Brahmaputra. It is delineated in the map of Serica, 
as being composed of two large affluents rising from the mountains 
called Ottorocorras or Sericus, and Casius. They are the Dibong, which 
is composed of two branches ; and the Brahmaputra which proceeds 
from the mountains on the east and north-east of Assam. The Bautes 
is described by Cellarius, as entering Serica “ recto casu,” which perhaps 
refers to the straight course of the Brahmaputra from the Brahmakund. 
This celebrated place of pilgrimage is designated the sacred pool—the 
Deo-panee—or divine wellof Brahma. The summit of the rock, which 
is described by Capt. Bedford as inaccessible, is called by the Hmdoos 
—the Deo Bari or dwelling of the deity, and it is perhaps with reference 
to this natural temple of the god of the Hindoos, that the ancients 
designated this rock and mountain—Mount Casius—a name that was 
probably suggested by the resemblance (real or supposed) between this 
rocky mountain and Mount Casius of Syria, the site of a temple to 
Jupiter. Dr. Stevenson remarks: ‘ when the ancient Romans came to 
any new country they were sure to find there a Jupiter.”* “The com- 
mon figure,”’ says the Abbe Bannier, ‘“‘ by which Jupiter Cassius used to 
be represented, was that of a rock or steep mountain, as is to be seen 
on several medals quoted by Vaillant.’’+ 

Ptolemy describes the two rivers Oechardes and Bautes, as flowing 
through the greatest part of Serica. (Sericee autem regionis maximam 
partem duo percurrunt fluvii.) This may be considered as referring to 
the two great parallel branches of the Brahmaputra, which enclose 
Majuli and the islands in the upper part of its course. These branches, 
perhaps, ran a much longer course than they do at present, and were dis- 
tinguished by the names of the two great parent streams, the Oechardes 

* Journal Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. V. p. 191. 
t Vide Mythology of the Antients, Vol. IT. p. 220. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 55 


and the Bautes, or the Sanpoo and the Brahmaputra, of which they are 
formed. ‘This division of the river into parallel branches is mentioned 
in connexion with one of the oldest traditions regarding Assam, namely, 
that the original territory occupied by Khuntai, the first king of that 
country, included two very long islands formed by branches of the 
Brahmaputra.* 

Several nations or people are mentioned by Ptolemy as inhabiting 
Serica—a certain proof that this valley was one of great extent; and 
with reference, therefore, to its situation on the north of India extra 
Gangem (Burmah) it can be no other than Assam. Ptolemy mentions, 
Anthropophagi on the northern parts of Serica. Below them were the 
Anmbi, who derived their name from their own mountains (gens ejusdem 
nominis cum montibus quibus superjacet). They are the Abor tribes, 
who occupy a range of hills on the northern side of Assam. In the 
same situation, namely, the northern side of Serica, Ptolemy mentions 
the Auxacii, who appear to be the Aukas. Between them and the 
Annibi were a people called Sizyges. Many of the names mentioned 
by Ptolemy closely resemble the names of places or tribes of people in 
Assam in the present day: thus the Damne appear to be the Doms: 
the Garinai—the Garos: the Nabanne (rendered Rabanne by Berthius 
and other commentators)—the Rabhas: the Asmeraci, the Mirees : the 
Oecharde—the people of Chardwar: the Bate—the Booteahs: the 
Ottorocorre, the people of Outtergorah. The situations or relative 
positions which Ptolemy assigns to these different nations, do not in every 
instance correspond with the localities mhabited by the tribes or people 
of Assam bearing the same names in the present day ; but though this 
is not the case, there can be little doubt from the close affinity that exists 
between them, that they are the people that are alluded to. 

Ammianus Marcellinus gives a general account of the physical aspect, 
extent, fertility, and nations of Serica. He describes it as a valley 
extending to the Ganges, and as abounding in silk, from which it may 
be inferred that Assam is the country that he alludes to. 

“Ultra heec utriusque Scythiee loca, contra Orientalem plagam in 
orbis speciem consertee celsorum aggerum summitates ambiunt Seras 
ubertate regionum et amplitudine circumspectos : ab occidentali latere 
Scythis adnexos : a Septentrione et orientale nivose solitudini cohzerentes : 


* Vide Buchanan in Martin’s Eastern India, Vol. III. p. 602. 


56 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


qua meridiem spectant adusque Indiam porrectos et Gangem. Adpellan- 
tur* autem iidem montes Anniva et Nazavicium et Asmira et Emodon 
et Opurocarra. Hane itaque planitiem undique prona declivitate pree- 
ruptam, terrasque lato situ distentas duo famosi nominis flumina O’ Echar- 
des et Bautes lentiore meatu percurrunt. Et dispar est tractuam di- 
versorum ingenium : hic patulum alibi molli divexitate subductum : ideo- 
que satietate frugum et pecoribus et arbustis exuberat. Incolunt autem 
fecundissimam glebam, varize gentes e quibus Alitrophagi et Annibi et 
Sizyges et Chardi aquilonibus objecti sunt et pruinis. Exortum vero 
Solis suspiciunt Rabannze et Asmiree et Essedones omnium splendidissi- 
mi: quibus Athagoree ab occidentali parte cohzerent et Aspacaree. Betee 
vero australi celsitudini montium inclinati urbibus licet non multis magnis 
tamen celebrantur et opulentis: inter quas maximz Asmira et Essedon 
et Asparata et Sera nitidee et notissimee. Agunt autem ipsi quietus 
Seres armorum semper et preeliorum expertes: utque hominibus sedatis 
et placidis otium est voluptabile, nulli finitmorum molesti. Cceli apud 
eos jucunda salubrisque temperies, aeris facies munda, leniumque vento- 
rum commodissimus flatus: et abunde, silvee sublucidze : a quibus arbo- 
rum fetus aquarum asperginibus crebris veiut queedam vellera mollientes 
ex lanugine et liquore mistam subtilitatem tenerrimam pectunt nentes 
que subtemina conficiunt sericum ad usus adhuc Nobilium, nune etiam 
infimorum sine ulla discretione proficiens. Ipsi przeter alios frugalissimi 
pacatioris vitee cultores, vitantes reliquorum mortalium ccetus. Cumque 
ad coémenda fila, vel queedam alia fluvium transierent advenee nulla ser- 
monum vice propositarum rerum pretia solis occulis eestimantur: et ita 
sunt abstinentes ut apud se tradentes gignentia mhil ipsi comparent 
adventicium (advectitium).’’} 

The words, “ in orbis speciem conserte celsorum aggerum summi- 
tates ambiunt Seras,” are generally supposed to refer to the mountains 
of Serica mentioned in the subsequent sentence of the text, but it may 
be fairly questioned, whether they should not be taken in their literal 
sense, and be considered as applying to those extensive causeways, the 
remains of which are still to be seen in Assam. Dr. Wade mentions 
several of these embankments. Ile describes a military causeway 
extending from Coos Bahar (Cooch Behar) in a northern direction to the 


* Appellantur. 
+ Ammianus Marcellinus, Lib. XXII. Chap. VI. pp. 293, 294. Edit. Gronovius. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Sc. 57 


utmost limits of Assam—forming a part of the southern boundaries 
of the Bootan dominions. ‘‘ A modern causeway formed by Pertaub- 
sing, which runs from Coosbeyhar through the whole extent of 
Assam to Sadiya, forms the boundaries of Dehrung on the north.” 
The Okkooruralee causeway is mentioned as separating the country of 
Ramigawn from Beltola. “The famous causeway of Rangulighur, 
which divides the district of Coliabur on the east from Upper Assam, 
is described as a rampart which runs from Colone near its junction with 
the Brahmaputra during a course of ten miles to the southern moun- 
tains.’ ‘A great causeway or high road raised to preserve the inte- 
rior from the inundation of the river Dehing”’ is mentioned as situated 
in Khonani. It is described “ as a work of immense labour.” Rung- 
pore, the capital of Assam, is said to have had the Duburriunniali ram- 
part, or high road, as its security or defence on the east. It is further 
stated that the banks of the river Dikho, near which the fortress of 
Rungpore stands, “ are connected by a lofty rampart with the southern 
mountains through an extent of ten or fifteen miles. It was construct- 
ed in remote antiquity for the protection of Gourgown, which was the 
principal residence of the monarch, and all the great officers of state.’’* 
These causeways, besides constitutmg roads and dams to protect the 
low country from inundation, served also as defences, for which purpose 
they were surmounted with palisades of bamboos. Mahomed Cazim 
describes a high broad causeway leading from Salagereh to Ghergong, a 
distance of about fifty coss (one hundred miles), each side of which, he 
remarks, “is planted with shady bamboos, the tops of which meet and 
are intertwined.’ He further describes the latter city as encompassed. 
with a fence of bamboos, and states that within it are high and broad 
causeways for the convenience of passengers during the rainy season. 
“The Raja’s palace is surrounded by a causeway planted on each side 
with a close hedge of bamboos, which serves instead of a wall, and on 
the outside there is a ditch which is always full of water.’+ Butkhyr 
Khuljy, who invaded Assam in 1205, mentions stockades which were 
formed of stakes interwoven with bamboos in that country.{ Fitch, 
also, in describing Coonch (Cooch Behar) remarks: “ all the country is 
set with bamboos or canes made sharp at both ends and driven into the 


* See Wade’s Geography of Assam in Martin’s Eastern India, Vol. 3. pp. 630, 
633, 635, 637. t As. Res, Vol, II. p. 179. t Stewart’s History of Bengal, 
I 


58 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


earth.”’* The words, “ ubertate regionum et amplitudine circumspectos’’ 
applied to the Seres, seem to imply, that the “ aggeres celsi,’” with which 
they were surrounded, were not mountains, but works of art, construct- 
ed to protect their extensive and fertile territory from the incursions of 
hostile tribes. It is probable, therefore, that these defences, the sum- 
mits of which are described by Ammianus Marcellinus, as interlaced 
or intertwined in a circular form, were stockades at the duwars, or close 
hedges of bamboos erected or planted on the causeways of Assam, with 
their tops intertwined in the manner mentioned by Mahomed Cazim. 
The position which Ammianus Marcellinus assigns to the Scythians, 
corresponds with that of Scythica extra Imaum, which is placed by 
Ptolemy on the western side of Serica. On the ground that this Scy- 
thia is Thibet, Murray infers that Chima, which lies to the east of that 
country, is Serica. The account, however, which both Ptolemy and 
Ammianus Marcellinus give of the other boundaries of Serica, is op- 
posed to the opmion which identifies Serica with China. The former 
author makes no mention of the sea, as the boundary on the east, 
which, in all probability, he would have done if he had been describing 
China: but speaks of Serica, as bounded in this direction by unknown 
lands. Ammianus Marcellinus describes Serica, as situated beyond the 
two Scythias, (viz. to the south of them,) and as lying opposite to 
the eastern country, which can be no other than China. He more 
particularly describes the country of Seres, as being adjacent on the 
north and east, to a dreary region of frost and snow, which refers, no 
doubt, to the lofty snowy peaks of the Himalaya, which surround the 
eastern part of the valleyof Assam. That Serica is not China, but 
Assam, is still more probable, from the circumstance of India being 
mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, as lying to the south of the latter 
country. This is India extra Gangem, which is referred by Pomponius 
Mela, Pliny, and Ptolemy, to the situation assigned to it in the text. 
Pomponius Mela, and Pliny give a general description of the situation 
of Serica. ‘‘ They agree,” says Vincent, “ that their boundary [Vviz. 
that of the Seres] on the north is Tabis, and Taurus on the south : 
that all beyond them north is Scythia, and all beyond them south is 
India east of the Ganges.” Tabis and Taurus seem to be moun- 
tains in Upper Assam, the former being, perhaps, the mountain 


* Huklyut’s Voyages. 


1847. | Periplus of the Hrythrean Sea, §c. 59 


* Reging’’ of the Abors, which is so conspicuous an object from 
Sudiya; while the latter may refer to the high Naga hills, which 
may have been regarded as extending to the exterior sea, or gulph 
of Siam. India, which Ammianus Marcellinus mentions as bounding 
Serica on the south, is evidently India extra Gangem. This, coupled 
with the circumstance of Serica being described as extending to the 
Ganges, seems quite conclusive of the identity of that country and 
Assam. It is mentioned as an extensive and fertile valley, inhabited 
by various nations, watered by Jarge rivers, and abounding im silk, and 
it is evident, therefore, that the description applies to no other valley 
than Assam. The account, which Ammianus Marcellinus gives of the 
country of the Seres (namely, as extending to the Ganges) renders it 
probable that the eastern part of Bengal or the countries east of the 
Brahmaputra and Tistha, as Rungpore, Mymensing, and Sylhet, were 
designated India Serica. In the second book of “ Ravennatis Anony- 
mi,” we find mention made of an extensive region called ‘“ India Seri- 
ca,” which was traversed by numerous rivers “ Per quam Indiam 
Sericam transeunt plurima flumina: inter cetera, que dicuntur id est 
Ganges, Torgoris, et Accessenis quee exeunt in Oceanum,”’ (Vide Raven- 
natis Anonymi Geographia, Edit. by Gronovius.) 

The mountains called Anniva (the Annibi of Ptolemy) are the Abor 
hills. Nazavicium is the Naga range. Asmira is the range inhabited 
by the Miris. Lmodon refers to the Himalaya. Opurocarra (or the 
Ottorocara of Ptolemy) is Uttararocora or Outtargorah or the moun- 
tains on the north eastern part of this valley. 

The Oechardes and the Bautes, as I have already mentioned, are the 
Sanpoo and the Brahmaputra, or rather the two paralled branches of 
the latter which enclose Majuli and the other islands in Upper Assam. 
They are mentioned as rivers “ nominis famosi.” This refers to the 
Brahmaputra, or rather the Brahmakund, which has always been a cele- 
brated place of pilgrimage among the Hindoos. “ During the time of 
the Ahoms,”’ says Lieut. Rowlatt, “it was necessary for the king on his 
ascension to the throne to be washed in water brought from this place, 
and until this ceremony was completed he was not considered fit to take 
upon himself the reins of government.” (Asiatic Society’s Journal, 
Vol. XV. p. 486.) This romantic spot is described by Capt. Bedford 
“‘as situated on the left bank of the river: it is formed by a projecting 


oO 


iD oe 


60 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


rock, which runs up the river parallel to the bank and forms a good-sized 
pool that receives two or three rills from the hills immediately above it. 
When seen from the land side by which it is approached, the rock has 
much the appearance of an old gothic ruin, and a chasm about half-way 
up which resembles a carved window, assists the similitude. At the 
foot of the rock is a rude stone seat : the ascent is narrow and choked 
with jungle, half way up is another kind of seat in a niche or fissure, 
where offerings are made: still higher up from a tabular ledge of the 
rock, a fine view is obtained of the Kund, the river, and the neighbouring 
hills ; access to the summit, which resembles gothic pinnacles and spires, 
is utterly impracticable.” (See As. Res. Vol. XVII. p. 353.) 

The Occhardes and the Bautes are represented by Ammianus Mar- 
cellinus as meandering through a plain or valley, which he describes as 
undique prona declivitaie prerupiam, and through wide or open tracts 
of country (¢errasque lato situ distentas). This is a correct description 
of Assam, which is an extensive valley surrounded on its eastern and 
northern sides by lofty mountains, which rise abruptly like a wall toa 
height of five or six thousand feet above the level of the adjacent plains. 
The diversified scenery which Serica is described as presenting—dispar 
est tractuum diversorum ingenium ; hie patulum, alibt molt diversitate 
subductum—corresponds with the varied physical aspect which Assam 
exhibits in its low ranges of undulating hills, its extensive plains, and 
the conical-shaped hills which rise from its surface. The luxuriant fer- 
tility of Serica refers to the rich productive soil of Assam, which, though 
now greatly overrun with jungle, appears to have been highly cultivat- 
ed in former times. Mahomed Cazim describes Upper Assam in A. D. 
1661, “as a wide, agreeable country which delights the heart of the 
beholder. The whole face of it is marked with population and tillage, 
and it presents on every side charming prospects of ploughed fields, 
harvests, gardens, and groves.” The country extending from Salagireh 
to the city of Ghergong is further described “ as a space of about fifty 
coss, filled with such an uninterrupted range of gardens plentifully 
stocked with fruit trees that it appears as one garden. Within these 
are the houses of the peasants, and a beautiful assemblage of coloured 
and fragrant herbs, and of garden and wild flowers blooming together.’’* 
He states that “‘ the strength and fertility of the soil are such that what- 


* As, Res. Vol. II. p. 173. 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §-c. 61 


ever seed is sown or slips planted they ‘always thrive.’’’? Tavernier, 
likewise describes it about the same date, “‘as one of the best countries 
in Asia, as producing all the necessaries of life and standing in no need 
of foreign supplies ;” also “as possessing mines of gold, silver, lead, 
and iron, and as abounding in silk, and lac.” Speaking of the natural 
resources of Assam, Mr. McCosh observes: “ This beautiful tract of 
country enjoys all the qualities for rendering it one of the finest in the 
world : its numerous crystal streams abound in gold dust and masses of 
the solid metal: its mountains are pregnant with precious stones and 
silver: its atmosphere is perfumed with tea growing wild and luxuriant- 
ly: and its soil is so well adapted to all kinds of agricultural purposes 
that it might be connected into one continued garden of silk, cotton, 
coffee, and sugar, and tea, over an area of many hundred miles.” 
(McCosh’s Topography of Assam, p. 133.) 

The people or nations mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, as in- 
habitmg the most fertile and productive region of Serica, are many of 
those enumerated by Ptolemy. The Alitrophagi are (as Vossius inter- 
prets the word) the Anthropophagi of Ptolemy, or the Androphagi of 
Pomponius Mela: they occupied a mountainous country north of the 
Annibi or Abor tribes, and are apparently identical with the Tikleya 
Nagas of Dr. Buchanan, or the Mishmees of Bubbajeea reported to 
Capt. Bedford, “as being a fierce race of cannibals.”* The Annidi 
referred. to a situation on the northern side of the valley of Serica and 
deriving their name, according to Ptolemy, from their own mountains 
(Annibi a suis montibus denominati, Cellarius), are, beyond doubt, the 
Abor tribes occupying the hills on the north side of the eastern part of 
Assam. The Chardi would seem, from their name, to be the people of 
the district of Chardwar: they are mentioned under the name of Oe- 
chardi by Ptolemy, and as inhabiting a tract of country on the banks of 
the river of the same name. In the Rabanne (the Nabbanne of 
Ptolemy—rendered Rabanne by his commentators) are recognized the 
aboriginal tribe or people of Assam called Rabhas. The Asmire seem 
to be the Miris. Ptolemy mentions their country as situated between 
two rivers and as extending to the mountains of the same name (inter 
fluvios Asmiree gens ad montes Asmireos, Cellarius). The Bate are 
evidently the Booteahs: they are erroneously described, as inhabiting a 


* As. Res. Vol. XVII. p. 533. 


62 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


mountainous country on the southern, instead of the western, part of 
Serica. They are the Betz of Ptolemy and are referred by him to the 
latter situation. The Essedones are the Issedones of Ptolemy, describ- 
ed by him as a great people. The other nations of Serica mentioned 
by Ammianus Marcellimus cannot be identified with any people of As- 
sam in the present day. It is probable that they occupied the rich and 
fertile parts of the valley. That Assam was anciently inhabited by an 
industrious and civilized people is abundantly proved by the remams of 
various and extensive works of public utility, as embankments, tanks, 
bridges, and forts, which are still to be seen. The ruins of temples, 
also, are scattered over the country. ‘‘ These temples,” says Major 
Jenkins, “all completely overthrown, speak of long periods of prosperity 
and great revolutions of which we are entirely ignorant.’’—From one of 
the temples at Hajoo being frequented by pilgrims from all parts of 
Thibet and Tartary he imagines that the Buddhist faith formerly pre- 
vailed in Assam and that this may account in part for the destruction | 
of the temples. “ That faith,’ he remarks, was succeeded perhaps by the 
Brahminical under the Pals, i.e. the Pal dynasty: they were swept 
away by the Koches, who probably were not Hindoos till they ceased to 
be conquerors, as was the case with the Ahoms, who with the Mahome- 
dans then contended for Kamroop, and both perhaps destroying the 
temples which fell into their power.’’* 

Asmira and Essedon are mentioned, as the largest, and Asparata and 
Sera, as the most noted cities of Serica. Sera, which was the capital or 
metropolis of the Sinz, is described by Ptolemy as the city of Serica, 
situated farthest to the east. It seems, therefore, to have stood in Sa- 
diya in Upper Assam, and as its site is laid down in the map attached 
to Ptolemy’s Geography, as being close to the mountains called Ottor- 
rocorras which bounded Serica on the north-east, and near one of the 
rivers which formed the Bautes, it would seem to be identical with the 
site of one of the forts which have lately been discovered by Lieut. 
Rowlatt, close to the hills east of Sadiya. He has given an account 
of these forts in a highly interesting Report of his expedition to the 
Mishmee hills in November 1844; published in the Journal of this 
Society—(Vol. XIV. p. 477.) He states :— 

“ Soon after my return from the Mishmee hills I again left Saikwah 


* Journ. As. Soc. No. 104. p. 777. 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 63 


and proceeded by elephant up the Koondil-panee, and after passing the 
mouth of the Depho-panee, followed up the course of that stream, until 
I arrived at the foot of the hills; and as the fort I was insearch of was 
said by my Khamptee guide to be between the Depho and Jameesa, I 
took a direction through the jungle about east, and without much dif- 
ficulty arrived at the fort five days after quitting Saikwah. 

« This fort is said to have been built by Raja Sisopal, and is situated 
on an elevated plain at the foot of the hills; the extent of it is consi- 
derable, as it took me about four hours to walk along one side of its 
faces: the defence is double, consisting of a rampart of stiff red clay, 
which, as the surrounding soil appears of a different nature, must have 
been brought from some distance. Below this rampart is a terrace of 
about 20 yards in breadth, beyond which the side of the hill is perpen- 
dicularly scarped, and varies from 10 to 30 feet high; the principal 
entrance, and the defences for some distance on either side, are built of 
brick, and on many spots in the interior I observed remains of the 
same materials, so that in all probability the houses occupied by the 
inhabitants must have been built of masonry. As I was unable from 
scarcity of provisions to remain more than one day at this place, I 
could not examine it so minutely as I could have wished. It seemed 
however to be composed of only three sides, the steepness of the hill at 
its north face precluding the necessity of any other works. At pre- 
sent the whole of the northern part of it is thickly covered with tea, 
which extends, according to the Khamptees who know the locality well, 
in a belt of more than a mile in depth all along the foot of the hill 
within the fort, and not as marked in my map, which was drawn before 
I visited the place. More to the west between the Dihing and Dehong 
is a‘much larger fort, and, as I believe, entirely composed of brick, as 
well as a tank of similar construction, surrounding which are numerous 
hill forts of small dimensions erected by a Raja named Bhishmuk, and 
the popular tradition amongst the people of this part of the country 
is, that on the destruction of the empire of these kings by the Hindoo 
god Krishno, the people who were able to make their escape fled to the 

ghills, and have in the course of time become converted into the present 
tribes of Abors. Near these forts a great number of wild Methuns* 
are to be met with, and the whole of the country, from the mouth of 


* Bos frontalis, or allied species.—Cusr. As. Soc. 


64 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


Koondil to the base of the hills, presents many indications of former 
cultivation. On this expedition I was absent nine days.” Major Jen- 
kins remarks that these forts refer to a time of which we have 
no history or even tradition further than frequent traces of the dynasty 
of the Pals throughout Assam. Alluding to the destruction of the 
empire of these kings by Krishno and the conversion of those who 
escaped to the hills into the present tribes of Abors, he states: “ if 
the Pals were Buddhists, this tradition may allude to their overthrow 
by the Rajas of the Brahminical faith; but all authentic records of those 
times appear to be lost, at least in this province.” 

The origin of the name of Sera is involved in obscurity. There is a 
place of this name, the site of a monastery, in the vicinity of Lassa, 
which has been supposed by Malte Brun to be the Sera of the ancients. 
The former, however, was built in the 8th century* and it is obvious, 
therefore, that it is not the Sera of Ptolemy. Sera is also the name of 
atown in Mysore. The word is evidently one of Indian derivation, 
and is probably a corruption of Sri, “‘ sacred.’ It has reference, per- 
haps, to the site of Sera in the vicinity of the sacred Brahmakund, 
from which the Sri Lohit (or sacred Lohit) the Irawaddee, and the 
Brahmaputra were formerly supposed to issue. The Irawaddee is ap- 
parently the river designated ‘“ Serus’” by Ptolemy. The mountains in 
the vicinity of Sera, from which one of the affluents of the Brahma- 
putra is represented as having its origin, were called Serici. It is said 
that se is the name of silk in China, and it is supposed that from this 
word the name of Seres is derived. It was conjectured by an ancient 
author, that the name, by which the silk worm was designated, was the 
origin of the term Seres. ‘‘ Pausanias, Seres populum a sere vermiculo 
dictum cencet.” (Vide Steph. Thesaur. Ling. Greec.) The name of 
Seres, however, occurs before it was known that silk is the production of 
an insect. Virgil, Dionysius, and Pliny mention the Seres, but describe 
silk, as a substance that is obtained from the flowers or leaves of cer- 
tain trees. The derivation of Sericum from Seres is particularly men- 
tioned by one author ; “ Sericum dicitur a Seribus.” It is also stated 
that silk was called Sericum because the Seres were the first who export- 
ed it ; *‘ Sericum dictum quia id Seres primi miserunt.”’ It is probable 
therefore, that the Seres derived their name from the city of Sera, 


* This information I obtained from the late M, Csoma de Koros, 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, &c. 65 


which stood near the sacred fountain of the Brahmaputra. Hence 
Assam was called Serica, and its staple commodity, viz. silk, was desig- 
nated Sericum, while the other articles of merchandize, which were 
exported from it, were distinguished by the adjective Seric, as 2np:xa 
Sepuata Seric skins ; ferrum Sericum, Seric iron. 

Essidon, called Issedon Serica by Ptolemy to distinguish it from Is- 
sedon Scythica which stood in Thibet or Bootan, was the capital of the 
Issedones, who appear to have been the most powerful of all the nations of 
Serica. They are described by Ptolemy, as a eye 6vos, and by Ammi- 
anus Marcellinus, as ‘‘omnium splendidissimi ;” and from the situation 
assigned to their territory, it is probable that their capital stood in the 
vicinity of Ghergong, or Rungpore. Ghergong or Kirganu, as it was 
anciently called, (Vide Rennel’s Memoir, &c. p. 299,) appears to be the 
Kangigu of Marco Polo. Marsden remarks that this country is desig- 
nated ‘‘Cargingu”’ in the early Italian Epitome. It is described as a 
kingdom situated eastward of Bengal, and as having voluntarily sub- 
mitted to the authority of Kublai Khan. The people are stated as 
being idolators and as having a peculiar language. The country is 
described as abounding in elephants, gold, and many kinds of drugs, 
but being an inland country distant from the sea, there is no opportu- 
nity of selling them. The inhabitants lived on flesh, rice, and milk ; 
and tattooed their bodies.* The Ahoms transferred the seat of gov- 
ernment to this place from Hulagari Nuggur, but from the architec- 
tural remains which are still to be seen in its vicinity, it would appear 
to have been, before it became their capital, the site of a city which 
belonged to a people far advanced in civilization. 

Asmira was the capital of the Asmirz, whose territory is described 
by Ptolemy as situated below the mountains of the same name (subque 
iis Rabbannze Asmiraea est regio, supra ejusdem nominis montes, Péol.). 
It probably stood in Lackimpore, where the Chutteeahs, a branch of the 
Shyan family had possessions, before the Ahoms came into Assam. 
There are various remains of antiquity to be seen in Lackimpore, as 
tanks, and the remains of an embankment called Rajghur, which, Lieut. 
-Dalton remarks, ‘‘bears the appearance of having been constructed as 
a rampart against the inroads of the hill people.’ He describes it as 
being ‘‘a stupendous work.”’ (Journal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIV. p. 252.) 


* Marsden’s Travels of Marco Polo, p. 455. 


66 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


Asparata (the Aspacara of Ptolemy) -appears to be the ancient city 
of Pora in the district of Chardwar. Capt. Westmacott considers Pora 
as identical with Pratappur 


a splendid city which is described in the 
ancient manuscript records of the kings of Assam, as having stood on 
the north bank of the Brahmaputra, a little below Bishnath. The 
ancient temples and ruins of Pora are described by him in the Journal 
of this Society, Vol. [V. p. 185. He remarks: ‘ From their massive 
proportions and the carvings and ornaments being so much worn by 
time and exposure, the fanes are evidently the work of a remote era: I 
sought in vain for an inscription, and neither the priests of the district 
nor the ancient families whom I consulted could assist my researches, 
or point with an approximation to accuracy to the date of their origin.” 
He mentions the ruins of six or seven enormous structures of granite 
broken into thousands of fragments. ‘‘Altars of gigantic proportions 
were the most remarkable objects,’ one of which he describes as making 
a square of forty-six feet and eighteen inches thick. He states: “it 
is certain from the prodigious number of ruinous and deserted temples, 
all of which appear to have been dedicated to Siva, being within the 
circuit of a few miles of Pora (I discovered twelve or fifteen in as many 
days on the hills and high lands at their feet) that this spot must have 
been the capital of a sovereign Prince, or a principal seat of the Hindu 
religion and enjoyed a large share of prosperity at some remote period.” 

Besides the four cities mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus there are 
eleven others which are enumerated by Ptolemy as belonging to Serica, 
viz. Damna, Piada, Tharrhana, (Pal. Throana) Drosache, Paliana, Abra- 
gana, Thogara, Daxata, Orosana, Ottorocorrha, and Solana. There are 
various places in Assam and in the neighbouring hilly tracts to which 
the sites of these places might be referred. Ottorocorrha stood in the 
vicinity of the hills of the same name, and was apparently one of the 
two forts which are described by Lieut. Rowlatt. Mr. MecCosh mentions 
that there are many extensive forts scattered over the country, and par- 
ticularises Buddea-ghur, Rajah-ghur, and Gohatti as the most remark- 
able. Speaking of the latter place, he observes : ‘* A small portion of its 
former extent and grandeur now remains: its mortar and earthenware 
constitute a large portion of the soil: its numerous spacious tanks, the 
works of ten thousands, the pride of its princes, and the wonder of the 
present day, are now choked up with weeds and jungle or altogether 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, $c. 67 


effaced by a false though luxuriant soil that floats on the stagnant water 
concealed beneath.’ Some of its gateways are still standing, and 
mounds and ditches—the remains of its fortifications—are to be seen 
for many miles around it. The intervening mountamous country be- 
tween Assam, Cachar, and Munipore appears to have been cultivated 
formerly, and as Mr. Torrens remarks, to have been “ thickly inhabited 
by a people far advanced in civilization.”* The remains of the fortified 
city of Dhemapore on the banks of the Dhansiri, built by Rajah Cha- 
kardhaj, the fourth king of Cachar, are described by Mr. Grange, by 
whom they were discovered, in the Journal of this Society.t Accord- 
ing to Mr. Crawford, the Burmese Annals mention Jynteah in the vici- 
nity of Sylhet, as the site of a principality called Wethali, which was 
founded by Susanaga, a descendant of Gautama in the female line. It 
is stated that the son of Susanaga named “ Kalasanka, in the 10th year 
of his reign and 100 years after the death of Gautama, assembled all 
the learned men of his country, and made them repeat what they knew 
of the doctrine of Buddha: for there yet existed no scripture. This 
assembly is known to the Burmese by the name of the ‘Second Coun- 
cil: the First Council having taken place three months after the death 
of Gautama. From this time, to the year 289 before Christ, a period 
of 83 years, twelve princes are described as having reigned in Wethali : 
the last of whom Sri-d’hama-sanka, is a personage of some repute. It 
was the son of this pious reformer who permanently fixed the seat of 
government at Prome.’’{ These details identify the Wethali of the 
Burmese with the Wesali of the Pali Buddhistical Annals of Ceylon. 
Vesali, however, which is considered the same city as Wesali, is referred 
to a site on the river Gandak, near the Bakra column, or Jat, discovered 
by Mr. Stevenson ; and according to Professor Wilson there is early 
authority for identifying it with this locality. 

The sedate and tranquil life which the Seres led, their unwarlike dis- 
position and aversion to the use of arms, are characteristic of the indolent 
Assamese, who, inhabiting a rich and fertile country formerly fenced in, 
or protected against foreign invasion in the manner described by Ammi- 
anus Marcellinus, may be supposed to have enjoyed, in ancient times, the 
undisturbed ease and delightful tranquillity, which the words of the text, 


* Journ. As. Soc. No. 104, p. + Ibid. 
t Crawford’s Embassy to Ava, p. 489. 


Lv) 


68 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


“‘utque hominibus sedatis et placidis otium est volutabile, nulli finitimo- 
rum molesti,” seem to express. 

The pleasant and salubrious climate, which is attributed to Serica, 
seems to refer to the climate of Upper Assam. ‘‘ Comparatively speak- 
ing, Assam enjoys a far more peculiarly temperate climate with a greater 
equality of temperature than is general throughout India. The warm 
weather is very moderate, and throughout the year the nights are cool 
and refreshing. The mean annual temperature amounts to 67-2—the 
mean temperature of the four hottest months amounting to 80, and that 
of the winter to about 57.”* Mr. McCosh describes the climate of 
Upper Assam as “cold, healthy, aud congenial to European constitu- 
tions.” + 

Serica is described as abounding in groves or forests which are desig- 
nated ‘ sublucidze,’’ an expression which seems intended to describe 
the effect produced by the myriads of luminous insects in the jungles 
of Assam. ‘These insects appear to be far more abundant there than 
in Bengal : they are described as being seen to “ glitter at night among 
the dark and leafy recesses of the forest trees, or flit with varied motions 
around their utmost branches, producing an effect so brilliant as to 
seem almost the effect of magic.’’t 

The substance, the produce of the trees of these forests, which, after 
being sprinkled with water, is described as being spun out into the finest 
threads, is evidently the indigenous silk of Assam. There are six 
species of silk worms found in that country, namely, the mulberry worm, 
the eria, the muga or moonga, the kontkurt, the deo mooga and the 
haumpottonee. The mulberry worm is supposed to have been originally 
introduced into Assam from Bengal, but the other five are indigenous 
to the country. Silk is one of the staples of Assam, and the material 
of which the clothing of the greater portion of the population is manu- 
factured. The silk from the Eria worm, which is described as being 
very durable, is worn by the poor at all seasons of the year, and by 
every class in winter. Dr. Buchanan states “that the native women of 
all castes, from the queen downwards, weave the four kinds of silk 


* Vide Major Jenkins’s Account of Assam in the Bengal and Agra Annual Guide 
and Gazetteer, 1844. 

+ Journal Asiatic Society, Vol. V. p. 195, 

~ Vide Robinson’s Assam, p. 125. 


1847.] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §c. 69 


produced in the country, with which three-fourths of the people are 
clothed. The raw material is seldom purchased ; each family spins and 
weaves the silk which it rears, and petty dealers go round and purchase 
for ready money whatever can be spared for exportation or for the use of 
the few persons who have none of their own. Considerable quantities 
of the two coarser kinds are also exported. There may be one loom for 
every two women, and in great families there are eight or ten which are 
wrought by slave girls.”” The Muga moth is reared on seven different 
varieties of trees, and the extent of the plantations in Lower Assam is 
estimated by Mr. Hugon at 5000 acres exclusive of what the forests 
produce.* In Upper Assam the plantations are still more extensive. 
Mahomed Cazim describes the silks of Assamin A. D. 1661 “ as being 
of excellent quality and as resembling those of China.” He also states 
that the Assamese were skilled in embroidering with flowers and in 
weaving velvet and akind of strong silk fabric called tautbund for mak- 
ing tents and khenauts.+ Tavernier states that there is in Assam 
‘great store of silk but coarse,’ and that there is a sort of silk found 
under the trees which is spun by an insect like the silk-worm.t The 
nature of Muga silk appears to have been unknown before this time. 
Methold, who visited India prior to A. D. 1620, speaks of it as being 
the production of a certain tree. He mentions as the imports into 
Masulipatam from Bengal, “ calicuts, lawns, and divers sorts of cotton 
cloths, raw silk, and Moga, which is made of the bark of a certain 
tree ;”’ and he adds “ many curious quilts and carpets are stitched with 
this Moga.Ӥ Muga appears to be the substance which is mentioned 
under the name of sericum by the ancients, and which is described by 
them as being procured from the leaves or bark of certain trees. It is 
evident that they regarded it as a different article from the produce of 
the mulberry silk-worm which they designated bombycina. Bombycina 
was the name that was applied to the threads spun by an insect called 
Bombyx, which Aristotle describes as a horned worm that undergoes 
several transformations in the course of six months, and that produces 
the substance called “‘ Bombykia.”” On the other hand, ‘ Sericum’’ was 
supposed to be a vegetable production. Theophrastus, Virgil, Diony- 
sius Periegetes, Pomponius Mela, Seneca, Arrian, Claudian, and Jerom 
* Journal As. Soc. Vol. VI. p. 21. + As. Res. Vol. Il. p. 174. 
¢ Tavernier’s Travels. Chap. Assam. § Purchas’s Pilgrims, Vol. V. p. 1000. 


70 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ Jan. 


describe it as an article that was obtained from the flowers, leaves, or 
the bark of trees. Pliny distinguishes between silk, muga, and cotton. 
The first which he calls dombycina, he mentions as the produce of the 
insect bombyx, which he refers to Assyria; the second, or sericum, he 
describes as a downy or woolly substance which the Seres combed from 
the leaves of trees, which, he remarks, were different from the wool- 
bearing trees of Tylos in the Persian gulf, by which he means cotton 
trees. The latter are mentioned as differing from the trees in the coun- 
try of the Seres in this respect that they produce down or wool, not on 
their leaves, but in a fruit, which is described as of the shape of a 
gourd, and of the size of a quince, and which, when ripe, opens and 
and displays within balls of down or wool, of which fine and costly 
cloths are made. This substance was the produce of trees called Gos- 
sampinee in the lesser isle of Tylos. (Pliny, Lib. xii. Chap. x. and xi.) 

The word «poy in the Sequel, which Dr. Vincent has rendered raw 
silk, is used to designate the woolly substance, which the Seres combed 
from the leaves of trees. It might be supposed to be derived from eria, 
the name of one kind of indigenous silk of Assam, which Mr. Hugon 
states was formerly exported to Lassa, but it is evident from other an- 
cient authors who make use of this term, that this is not its origin, and 
that it is merely the word «por, lana, which is employed to express a 
woolly or downy substance which was procured from trees, and that it is 
applicable, therefore, to cotton, or to the Muga and other silks of Assam 
supposed to have been carded from the leaves, bark, or flowers of trees. 
This word in the passage 50 epiw Xpwvta 7 Aww in Dionysius Periege- 
tes, is rendered by Salmasius the wool not of cattle but of trees. Pul- 
lux mentions évAov epiov and Theophrastus «p:opopa devdpa—terms which 
may be considered as referring either to cotton or the indigenous silks 
of Assam. Sericum, or the indigenous silk of Assam, though generally 
regarded by the ancients as the product of trees, is nevertheless men- 
tioned by Pausanias as being produced by an insect. 

The term Metaxa (érata) which was subsequently applied to Seri- 
cum, appears to be a compound of the words muga and tassar, which 
are indiscriminately applied about Dacca to the muga silk of Assam or 
moongatassar, as it is frequently called. Raw-silk is mentioned under 
the name of Metaxa by Procopius, Suidas, Theophanes, and in the 
Digest. It was an article of import into Tyre and Baretus, where it was 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, §-c. 7\ 


woven into cloth. Silk merchants were called ‘“ metaxiarii,” and the 
duty that was levied on the raw material was denominated “ metaxiati- 
cum.” It is stated that the price of metaxa was raised by a tax imposed 
on it in Persia ; and that, on the manufacturers, in consequence of this 
duty, charging a higher price for their cloths, Justinian fixed a maximum 
and ruined the trade. 

From the manner in which Muga silk is produced, namely, by worms 
found on certain trees in the forests, or reared on trees planted for the 
purpose, the error of supposing this substance to be the product of the 
bark, leaves, or flowers of trees, is easily accounted for. The ancients 
knew that bombycina (or the mulberry silk) was procured from an 
insect, but the indigenous silk of Serica or Assam, which they thence 
called sericum, was supposed, from the accounts they received of it, to 
be the production of the leaves, the bark, or the flowers of trees. 

Ammianus Marcellinus describes the process to which this supposed 
vegetable product “fetus arborum’’ was subjected, in order to facilitate 
the drawing out, or the reeling of the threads of which it consisted. 
This was performed by means of frequent sprinklings of water (or per- 
haps by immersing the silk in water and potash as is practised in Assam 
in the present day). From this mixture of down and liquid (ex lanu- 
gine et liquore mistam) the Seres combed out a very slender filament- 
ous substance, and spinning it intu woof threads, they wove them into 
the cloths called Sericum. The author mentions that this kind of cloth 
was originally, or on its first introduction into Europe, worn only by 
the nobility, but that in his time it was in common use among the 
lower classes of people. The cloth, which he here alludes to, appears 
from the woof alone having been made of silk, to have been a mixed 
cotton and silk fabric, such as is manufactured about Dacca in the pre- 
sent time. These cloths called Kaseedas, consist of two kinds, viz. of 
Muga silk and cotton woven in the loom, and of cotton cloths em- 
broidered with Muga silk with the needle. The former have been 
manufactured here from time immemorial. Both kinds are annually 
exported from Dacca to Bussora and Jidda, whence they are conveyed 
into the interior of Arabia and Mesopotamia, where they are used as 
turbans, vests, &c. by all classes of people in these countries. A large 
quantity is sold at the great annual fair held in the vicinity of Mecca. 
Formerly, they were an article of export to Egypt and Turkey: and it 


72 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


is probable, therefore, that they are the cloths of that kind which is 
designated “ subserica’’ by ancient authors, from being made partly of 
metaxa or tassar silk, and partly, either of cotton or flax. 

It would appear, also, that the ancients imported the strong silk 
fabric, which the Assamese formerly manufactured for tents. Dion 
Cassius (L. XLIII.) states, that Julius Ceesar, when he entertained the 
Romans with magnificent spectacles, covered the amphitheatre with 
awnings of sertcum to shelter them from the sun. (Vide Macpherson’s 
Annals of Commerce, Vol. I. p. 138.) This, no doubt, was the cloth 
called tautbund, which Mahomed Cazim states was used for tents and 
khenauts (or the outer walls of tents). 

Ammianus Marcellinus describes the Seres, as people of a most peace- 
able disposition, as most frugal or provident in their habits, and as 
shunning intercourse with the rest of mankind. Their mode of carry- 
ing on traffic, as mentioned by him, is similar to that described by 
Pomponius Mela, and Pliny. He states, that when strangers crossed 
the river to purchase thread or other commodities, the Seres carried on 
trade with them without interchanging words, and estimated the value 
of the merchandize offered for sale by inspection alone—disposing of 
their own goods [by bartering them for articles of country produce] but 
declining to buy foreign commodities in return. Solinus writes, “ Primum 
eorum fluvium mercatores ipsi transient, in cujus ripis nullo interpartes 
linguee commercio sed depositarum rerum pretia zestimantes sua tradi- 
unt nostra non emunt.’’ The river, on the banks of which the traffic 
here alluded was carried on, appears to have been the boundary line be- 
tween Bengal and the country of the Seres. It is apparently the same 
river, which Pliny designates the first m the country of the Seres, and 
it may be regarded, therefore, as having been the frontier one: (Primum 
eorum noscitur flumen Psitaras.) It appears to be a river in the Rung- 
pore district, and is perhaps the Tistha. The Seres here mentioned 
are some of the hill tribes bordering on Sylhet and Assam, and the 
thread, which the strangers or foreign merchants purchased from them, 
was, no doubt, the Tassar or Muga silk thread of the latter country, &c. 

Ammianus Marcellinus alludes to other articles of merchandize be- 
sides the thread which the Seres bartered. They comprised skins and 
iron, and, in all probability, lign-aloe, musk, lac, hair-chowrees, and 
rhinoceros’s horns. 


1847. ] Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. 53 


Shins.—Pliny mentions that the Seres exported skins and iron along 
with their cloths. These skins are mentioned under the name of =npixa 
Scpuara in the Periplus. They evidently refer to the rhinoceros and 
buffalo hides of Assam, from which the Sylhet shields are made, and 
which are celebrated throughout India, both on account of their 
strength, and the fine polish which is imparted to their surface by the 
juice of the Semicarpus anacardium. The Romans in all probability 
imported these hides for the manufacture of their shields. 

Tron.—The iron of Serica was considered the best in India (Ex omni- 
bus generibus palma Serico ferro est. Seres hoc cum vestibus suis pelli- 
busque mittunt. Secunda Parthico, neque alia genera ferri ex mera 
acie temperantur, ceteris enim admiscetur).* Assam and the adjacent 
countries abound in iron. Dr. Buchanan states that “at Doyang, south- 
west from Jorhat, a day’s journey, there is an iron mine which is 
wrought on account of the king. It supplies the whole country with 
abundance.”’+ Speaking of the places where iron ore is dug out by the 
Khassias, Lieut. Yule remarks: “so numerous and extensive are the 
traces of former excavations, that judging by the number at present in 
progress, one may guess them to have occupied the population for 
twenty centuries.”’{ Malte Brun mentions that “ Assam is celebrated 
for its steel.” This refers to the davs that are manufactured by the 
hill tribes, viz., the Nagas, Abors and the Khamtis. 

Chowrees.—The fly drivers made of the long glossy hair of the tail 
of the Yak (Bos grunniens) appear to be the articles mentioned under the 
name of Capilli Indici in the Digest. A chowree was one of the insignia 
of royalty among the ancient Hindoos, and was used in Persia for the 
fringed knots called Kirtas, which are generally ornamented with gold, 
and hung round the necks of horses, as a charm against fascination. 
The Chinese make tufts of it for their caps, and the Turks adorn their 
military standards with it. Chowrees have always been an article of 
importation into Rungpore and Assam from Bootan and Thibet, and no 
doubt, they formed one of the exports from the Gangetic mart of the 
Periplus. lian mentions the long bushy tail of the Yak, and it may, 
therefore, be concluded that it constituted the Capilii Indici specified 


* Pliny, Lib. XXXIII. C. XIV. 
+ Martin’s Eastern India, Vol. IIT. p. 660. 
+ Journal Asiatic Society, Vol. XI. p. 855, 


74 Remarks on the Sequel to the [JAN. 


in the Reseript of the Roman emperors relating to the articles import- 
ed into Egypt from the east, and contained in the Digest of the Roman 
Law, Lib. XXXIX. title XV. 5. 7.* 

Lign Aloe.—The fragrant wood called Lign Aloe or Aguru in Sanscrit, 
is the Ahaloth of Scripture, from which term the name of Agallochum 
given to it in the Digest, is derived. Hence the modern appellation of 
Agal or Eagle wood which is sometimes applied to it. Aquillaria Agal- 
locha, which yields this substance, is common in the mountainous country 
between Sylhet and Assam. Speaking of the latter country, Mahomed 
Cazim observes : ‘‘ the mountains of Nanac(the Naga hills or Nazavicium 
of Ammianus Marcellinus) produce plenty of Lign Aloes, which a society 
of natives import every year into Assam and barter for salt and grain.”’ 
The fragrance of Lign Aloe is supposed to be the result of a diseased 
state of the centre layers of the wood, which is converted into a resinous 
matter. At Sylhet an essence or attar is extracted from it, which, in 
former days when this article was in great demand, was sold for its 
weight in gold. Both the wood and the essence or attar are purchased 
by Moghul merchants and are sent to Jidda and Bussora. The attar of 
Lign Aloe, which is of the consistence of thick oil and of a dark brown 
colour, appears to be the substance called Indian Cinnabar by Arrian. 
Dr. Vincent remarks in speaking of Arrian’s account of Socotra: ‘it is 
remarkable that aloes are not mentioned by the author of the Periplus 
but he notices particularly the drug called Indian cinnabar which exudes 
from a certain species of trees. Dr. Vincent says that the confounding 
of Cinnabar and Dragons blood was a mistake of ancient date, and con- 
cludes that the latter is the article that is referred to.”+ It would 
seem, however, that the substance, which Arrian alludes to, was not 
the produce of Socotra, but of India, and it is likely, therefore, that the 
attar of Lign Aloe is, from its colour, the substance that is meant by 
the article Cinnabar which exudes from certain trees. It was no doubt 
imported into Socotra from India. Lign Aloe is highly esteemed as a 
perfume throughout the east, and is employed for various purposes, 
as incense in temples, to fumigate apartments, cloths, &e. The Jews 
used it at their interments. 


* Quere, Tit. IV. ? where a long and highly interesting catalogue of oriental im- 
ports is given.— Eds. 


T Vincent’s Periplus. 


1847.| Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. 75 


Rhinoceros’s Horn.—This appears to be the article which is mention- 
ed under the term Pwoxepws in the Periplus. The Ithinoceros’s horn 
was considered an antidote to poison, and was, therefore, highly valued 
in ancient times. These horns were no doubt exported from Assam 
where the Rhinoceros abounds. The horn of the Rhinoceros of Bengal 
was considered superior to that of every other country of Asia. Lin- 
schoten remarks that this was owing “to the herbs which Bengala 
yieldeth, for in other places they were not near the price of these.” 
The two Mahomedan travellers of the 9th century state that the 
Chinese purchased the horns of Rhinoceroses in the kingdom of Rami, 
im the fens of which country they are said to abound (the marshes of 
Bengal) and that they adorned their girdles with these, some of which 
were valued at 3000 pieces of gold in China. 

Tabasheer.—This is supposed by some to be the medr xarauwor of the 
Periplus. It is designated the sugar or manna of bamboos. It occurs 
in the works of the old travellers under the name of Spodiom de Canna. 
Barett mentions it as an export from Bengal to Goa in the 16th century. 
It is also noticed, as an article of traffic in other parts of India. Cezesar 
Frederick remarks: ‘From Cambara cometh the Spodiom which 
congealeth in certain canes (bamboos) whereof I found many in Pegu, 
of which I made my house there, because as I said before they make 
their houses there of woven canes like mats.’’ Odoricus, who travelled in 
India in the early part of the 14th century, speaks of canes named “ Cas- 
sam, of which they make sails (masts) for ships, and in which are found 
certain stones, one of which stones whosoever carrieth it about with 
him cannot be -wounded with any iron, and therefore the men of the 
country for the most part carry such stones wherever they go.” (Hak- 
lyut’s voyages, p. 162.) 

Dacca, 16th April, 1846. 


APPENDIX. 


Nore I. 

Sir Wn. Jones mentions “the similarity of some proper names on the 
borders of India to those of Arabia, as the river Avabius, a place called Araba, 
a people named Aribes or Arabies and another called Sabi.” (Discourse on 
the Arabs, As. Res. Vol. 1i. p. 7.) Words allied to the latter term oceur m 
Ptolemy’s Geography of the countries of India : and were perhaps the names of 
Sabeean commercial settlements. Swpara or Sippara (the Sefareh of Arabian 


>] 


iL bd 


76 Remarks on the Sequel to the [ JAN. 


geopraphers : Vide D’Anville) between the ancient Tyndis and Muziris on the 
western coast of India, is supposed by one learned author (Lucas Holsterius ad 
Ortel, p. 137, quoted by Cellarius) to have been the Ophir of Scripture. The 
Sabare occupied a country corresponding in situation with Sumbulpore, the ri- 
ver Adamas (so named from its containing diamonds) which flowed through it, 
being the Mahanudee. Sadar, in the vicinity of Dacca, is regarded as a place of 
great antiquity by the natives; it is situated in that part of the district which 
was the original seat of the fine muslin manufactures, and was im all probabi- 
lity an emporium for these fabrics and for the lign aloes, cassia, spikenard, 
and musk of Sylhet, Assam, and Bootan. Sabara, from which the Sabaricus 
Sinus took its name, is referred by D’Anville to Pegu, where the Irawaddee 
enters the sea. Saba or Sabana Emporium was situated at the southern ex- 
tremity of the Golden Chersonesus, and apparently in Malacca. The Sabadibe 
(or islands of Saba) are perhaps Sumatra and Java. All these places, it may 
be remarked, are celebrated for their products ; and they were, in all probabi- 
lity, the sites of emporia from which the Sabeans derived the precious stones, 
the gold, the fine garments, the perfumes, and the spices, with which they 
supplied Egypt, Judea, and the countries of the West. 


Nore II. 


Dr. BucHANAN supposes that the Hindoo Princes of Bengal continued to 
govern at Sonargong, long after they had lost possession of the western por- 
tion of their kingdom, and that this part of the province was not annexed to 
the dominions of Mahomedan conquerors of the country until the time of 
Ferid-Addeen Soor Shere Shah. It is well known, however, that there were 
Mahomedan governors of the eastern division of Bengal prior to the reign of 
Shere Shah, and that Sonargong was in subjection to them, as early as the year 
1279. It is probable, indeed, that there were Mahomedans in this part of 
Bengal, at a period long anterior to the conquest of the country by Bukhtyar 
Khuliyy in 1203. We are told that the Arabian merchants of Bussora carried 
on an extensive maritime commerce with India and China, as early as the 8th 
century, and that many of them settled in the countries which they visited. 
Dr. Robertson, in speaking of Mahomedan traders in the east at this time, 
states: “They were so numerous in the city of Canton, that the emperor 
(as Arabian authors relate) permitted them to have a Cadi or Judge of their 
own sect, who decided controversies among his countrymen by their own laws 
and presided in all the functions of religion. In other places, proselytes were 
gained to the Mahomedan faith and the Arabian language was understood and 
spoken in almost every sea port of any note.” (Robertson’s Ancient India, p. 
102.) There is reason to believe from this circumstance, that Bengal was the 
seat of a colony of Mahomedan merchants at this early period. This may be 


1847. | Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, Se. ay 


inferred from the extensive commerce it enjoyed with countries of the west 
from early times; from the great value of its products, and above all, from 
the distinct allusion made to it by the two Mahomedan travellers of the 9th 
century. It is mentioned by them “as the country of a king named Rami, who 
possessed a great number of elephants. Its exports consisted of fine cotton 
garments,* hen aloes,f sable skins,{ and Rhinoceros horns, all of which were 
to be purchased for shells,§ which were the current money of the country.”’ 


Nore II. 

The city of Bengala is mentioned in the works of geographers in the early 
part of the 17th century. Cluverius describes it as situated on an island of the 
river Cosmin, and as a mart from which there was exported valuable merchan- 
dize, consisting of silk, cotton, civet, sugar, &e. “ Urbs Bengala magna, 
celeberrimo imperio insignis, in insula fluvii Cosmin sita est. [Urbs Ben- 
gala una ex prestantissimis Indie est, ubi omnes reperiuntur delicie quas 
cetere optime possident Europe civitates. Hine exportantur merces pretiose, 
Sericum, xylinum, zibettum, Saccharum, oriza, canne de Bengala, vulgo 
canne Hispanice dicte].” Vide Introduct. ad Univers. Geograph. Philip 
Cluverius. In the Lexicon Universale of Hoffman it is mentioned as a 
city of Extra Gangetic India, and as a large and celebrated mart fre- 
quented by Europeans: “Bengala urbs Asie cum regni cognomine in 
India extra Gangem, sub imperio M. Mogolis a multis annis, ad ostia 
Cosmini fluvit non longe ab ostiis Ganges. Ampla et percelebre ab Europeis 
Ffrequentata.’ That the Cosmin is the Brahmaputra is evident from the 
situation assigned to the former in the maps of the older geographers. Clu- 
verius delmeates it as running from the north-east, and dividing into two 
branches, on one of which he places the cities of Bengala, and Chatigan: the 
other branch, he represents as falling into the sea at Pegu. In a map attach- 
ed to Bernier’s Travels, Cosmin is laid down in a situation also corresponding 
with that of the Brahmaputra. Daccais placed at its mouth, where the Megna 
joins the sea: and Chatigan at some distance from it towards the south. In 
a map by Mandelso, who travelled m India in 1639, the city of Bengala is laid 

down in the situation here assigned to Dacca; viz. at the mouth of the river. 
Bengala is described in the Dictionnaire Historique par M. L. Morery, as a city 
lying “ sur l’embouchure du fleuve Cosmin, grande, belle, riche, marchande, et 
comme le centre du commerce des Indes, extrémement frequentée par les Kuro- 
péens, Francais, Anglais, Portugais, Hollandais, &c. qui y ont tous le libre 
exercice de leur religion. Elle n’est pas Cloigyée de ’Pembouchure du Gange.”’ 
The author, however, concludes by stating: ‘ Quand j’ai parlé de la ville de 
Bengale, j’ai suivi le sentiment de presque tous les auteurs qui ont écrit avant 


* Dacca muslins. ‘ Aggur wood, $ Otter skins ? § Cowrees. 


78 Note on an Image of Budha found at Sherghatti, Sc. | Jan. 


moi: mais de nouvelles? relations m’apprennent qu'il n’y a point de ville de ce 
nom.” The site of Bengala appears to have been confounded with that of 
Chittagong about the begining of the 18th century. In some of the French 
geographical Dictionaries of that period, these towns are described as “ Chati- 
gan sur la riviére de Cosmin vis-a-vis Bengal que plusieurs geographes con- 
fondent avee elle. Quelques uns ont cru que Bengale n’est autre que 
Chatigan.” Dict. de Lamartine. That they were different places, however, is 
evident from the circumstance of Bengala, Chatigan and Satigan being sever- 
ally mentioned as the chief emporia of Bengal. From the city of Bengala 
being described as situated on an island and opposite to Chittagong, Sundeep 
would seem to be the locality that is referred to; on the other hand, Sir T. 
Herbert mentions this island, but does not allude to any town upon it, whilst 
he particularly specifies Chatigan, Bacola, Serripore, and Sonargong as the 
principal towns of the eastern part of Bengal. In a work entitled “Lex 
Mereatoria,” written about the middle of the last century, Dacca is mentioned 
as identical with Bengala. The mention by Morery of the latter having been 
frequented by Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French, seems to countenance 
this opmion; but on the other hand the insular situation of Bengala, and its 
being placed opposite to Chittagong prove that Dacca is not the town that 1s 
referred to. Rennell, speaking of this city, remarks ‘‘no traces of it now exist. 
It is described as being near the eastern mouth of the Ganges, and I conceive 
the site of it has been carried away by the river.” 


Note on an Image of Budha found at Sherghatti, §c. by Capt. Kirror. 


I have the pleasure herewith to transmit a sketch of a small image 
of Budha at this place, and said to have been brought from a hill near 
Gaya. 

It will be observed to differ in some respects from the ordinary form 
of these idols ; it appears to hold a cup for offerings, instead of the right 
hand resting open on the knee, as generally found, but it is common in 
this district, as well as other forms which I propose treating upon on a 
future occasion. 

It will be observed that on the right beneath the “Simhasun,” or 
throne, is represented a monkey ? on his hind legs, holding an offering in 
his fore paws ; on the left, the same animal appears to be jumping down 
a well. This I have also seen on a fine figure of Budha at Budh Gaya, 
given in Buchanan, but badly drawn. Probably Lieut. Latter, who has al- 
ready offered the Society some useful observations on Budhist emblems, 


9 § OSSSSOSOSHOR8OS 505 


lanl Ley 


QOQOOVSSSSSoeoggg 


IMAGE OF BUDHA AT SHERCHATT{, 


JK. lik 


y= 
=} 
-_— 


= 


ee as 


nit * Mave ee 
(1 RO ‘iti dais See ae uh ‘tied 


. 7s neal * art , a a pe Beir \ \ 
a . be re oe yr 5 ; 
+ st ve es oo 
| E catoole a 7? = pete ine 
; a | rea av + ‘ san t*, 
oe Tv. 5 he ys pi * a! -—. 7 
4 F a fad 


1847.| Note on an Image of Budha found at Sherghatti, Se. 79 


might be able, with the help of his Burmese savans, to throw some 
light upon the meaning of this curious representation, as well as of 
others I hope to furnish. 

The workmanship of the figure is superior to the ordinary run; its 
material is black chlorite. The measurement is 15 in. ~ 9 in. and has 
been worshipped for years past as Bhyrub by the ignorant people of 
this town ; but this occurs everywhere, as remarked upon by Buchanan. 

I have given the inscription in a line by itself with the Deva Négri 
context immediately above it for comparison ;* it is the same, excepting 
perhaps orthographical errors, as given in page 133, Vol. IV. of the 
Journal, and occurs on almost every image in this district, and in 
various types, down to No. 2, of the Allahabad column, called the Gupta 
by Prinsep. 

I hope soon to have it m my power to offer the Society further speci- 
mens of fragments of Budhist sculpture met with in such abundance in 
this district, and should you think them of sufficient interest, I would 
not object to draw them on transfer paper ready for printing and pub- 
lishing in the Journal. 

I beg to announce to the Society that having lately had a few days’ 
leisure I have visited several of the spots held sacred in the vicinity 
of Gaya, and have made several curious discoveries which may prove of 
interest to those who make the former usages and religion of this em- 
pire a study. 

It would take much more space than I can afford or would attempt to 
fill, in a letter which is intended as a simple announcement, to describe 
what I have seen, and explain the conjectures it has led to, so as to be 
well understood—suffice it to say, I have found what I consider to be 
remains of the famous Chaitya, or temple raised by Asoka at Budha 
Gaya ; they consist of a number of columns on which are very rude though 
interesting sculptures in bass relief in medallions. I have sketched all 
that seem worth recording ; the subjects are chiefly the worship of the 
Bo tree, the lotus, the shrine or Chaitya, a goat, a female figure with 
the head of an ass, &c. There are also winged lions, oxen and horses, 
and a centaur. The simple bull is oft repeated, and a cow and calf— 
but this last appears to be of a later date. It is remarkable that these 
pillars are of the same stone as that of the Asoka columns of Dehli, 


* As there is no room to insert this in the plate we here subjoin the Deva- ~nagari 
pion. ee 


0G quam Vquea eq asi qual |W aea wai wa fates 
arat Wet Wau: | 


80 Note on an Image of Budha found at Sherghatti, §c. 


Allahabad and others; and here I must not omit to mention that one 
of these, or rather part of one was many years ago set up in Sahebgunj 
as a landmark by a Mr. Boddam ; it was brought from Bukrow’s (the 
site of an ancient city opposite Budha Gaya) where the lower portions 
still remain, the dimensions of this column must have been the same as 
of the others abovenamed. There is a sentence on most of the sculptured 


pillars ending with f [ * “ danam,”’ or “the gift of,” like those of the 


Bhilsa Tope in the early character, but the middle letters bemg much worn 
I cannot make it out properly ; the initial letter is the same in all }{ the 


a; it seems to be } 4, JL yd, ub ye, + hoo Bee? fy gi, doyé, ida, _|°nam, 
the language seems to be Pali or Pracrit and no sense can be made of 
it—but it must be the name of a person making a gift—perhaps Géya 
may be the dative of Gaya, when it would read “the gift to Gaya 
of” ?—but it is unimportant otherwise than the characters fix the date. 

I have visited a spot called Koorkihar, the site of an ancient city and 
of a Budha monastery or Vihara, hence the name which has been no 
doubt corrupted from Koorka Vihara: there are innumerable idols chief- 
ly Budhas, some of great size and very beautifully executed, and well 
worth removing to the museum and sending home. Amongst other 
things are a vast number of miniature Chaityas or Budha temples, from 
8 inches to several feet ; these are noticed by Buchanan when speaking 
of Gaya; but they are more plentiful here and at Budha Gaya than else- 
where. I have collected some, but none are entire; they will form sub- 
ject for special notice hereafter. | 

There is a large Budha temple at Pornaha in ruins, but sufficiently 
entire to enable a good plan to be made of it, which I hope to be able to 
accomplish. 

I have discovered a great many inscriptions at Gaya proper, and have 
taken impressions and copies, but they are not, as far as I can judge, of 
much interest ; however they mention the names of many of the Pal rajas 
of Bengal and give dates. When I shall have prepared good copies I 
shall send them for the Society’s inspection—and if considered aceept- 
able I shall be happy to present duplicates. 

This province offers a wide field for research. I have heard of several 
places worth visiting, but my time and means are small. There is one 
place called Pawnpoori which is said in one of the poorans to be the ca- 
pital of Chundra Gupta; this I shall try and visit. 


Yew Ye yyw 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 


JANUARY, 1847. 


LLLAPALLPLVPPVPVPVPPUOLILPYLYFULVIIOO™ 


The usual monthly meeting was held on Wednesday evening, the 
13th January. 

The Hon'ble Sir J. P. Grant, in the chair. 

The Proceedings of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. 

Dr. Duncan Stewart, Presidency Surgeon, was ballotted for and duly 
elected a member. 

The following gentlemen were proposed for ballot at the February 
meeting :— 

Captain Ousely, proposed by Colonel Ousely, seconded by Mr. Pid- 
dington. 

Captain Munro, Brigade Major, Fort William. 

J. Muller, Esq. Mint. 

R. Jones, Esq. Professor Hindu College. 

W. M. Dirom, Esq. C. 8S. 

Baboo Debendernath Tagore. 

Dewan Hurreemohun Sen. 

Proposed by Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy, seconded by the Hon'ble 
Sir J. P. Grant. 

The Senior Secretary read a Report on the part of the Committee of 
Papers on the Society’s affairs. 

Resolved, That the Report be received and printed for circulation 
among the resident members, prior to the discussion at the February 
meeting of the propositions it contains. 

The following gentlemen were elected members of the Committee of 
Papers to supply vacancies :—J. W. Colville, Esq. Advocate General, 

M 


82 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ JAN. 


W. Grey, Esq. C. S., Welby Jackson, Esq. C. S., and R. W. G. Frith, 
Esq. 

Read translation of a letter received from Professor Lassen, as fol- 
lows :— 


To Dr. E.Rorr, Co-Secretary, Asiatic Society, Oriental Department. 


My pzaAR Sir,—In conveying to the Asiatic Socicty my grateful acknow- 
ledgments for the valuable present they have favoured me with, and for their 
interest in my pursuits, I would request you to offer to the Society my apologies 
for the delay in my reply, owing to a severe affection of the eyes, from which I have 
been suffering during this whole summer, and which prevented me from engaging 
in any literary undertakings. 

I was long since aware of the importance, nay of the indispensability of Radha- 
kant’s Dictionary for my labours, without, however, seeing a chance of making use 
of it, and my gratitude to the Asiatic Society, is the more cordial and sincere, since 
by their favour I have at last obtained access to this mine of Hindu learning. 

Being anxious publicly to record my thanks to the Society, I shall consider it a 
particular favour, if you will ascertain, whether the Society would accept the 
dedication of my work on Indian antiquities to them. I was by my disease un- 
fortunately compelled to desist during last summer from my labours, but I hope 
I shall be able to finish the latter half of the first volume in the course of the next 
spring. 

By your translation of the Vedanta Sara, which I already knew from No. 158 
of the Journal, you have acquired a lasting merit for the correct interpretation of 
this work, the meaning of which had been entirely misconstrued by the two former 
translators. You give, t apprehend, even too much praise to the German, by call- 
ing him a good Sanscrit scholar; his grammar and anthology contain many errors, 
and do not speak well of the critical sagacity of the author; his works are still 
more perverted by the circumstance, that he mixes up with all his labours Schel- 
ling’s philosophy which he does not even correctly understand. 

I most sincerely thank you for your offer to have, with the consent of the Society, 
some of the manuscripts of your Library copied for me, and I shall take the liberty 
to avail myself of it on any occasion I may require it. The works I should wish to 
have copied before all others, I am afraid, are not in the Library, at least not in 
the printed catalogue, viz. the Pratisakhya and the works of Aryabhutta. The 
latter, I believe, are only procurable in Malabar, since I find only one single notice 
of one of them in the catalogue of the Mackenzie collection, where mention is made 
of a manuscript in Grantham writing. The first title includes three works, 
manuscripts of which are found in London, and in Chambers’ collection in Berlin ; 
they are grammars of the Veda dialect, more ancient than that of Panini, and for 
this reason of great importance. If you will not consider me rude, I shall be much 


1847.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 83 


obliged to you, if you can procure for me the two last Adhyayas of Bhaskara’s 
Siddhanta Siromani. I have the first two Chapters, but never succeeded in obtain- 


ing the two remaining parts. 
I am, &c. 


C. Lassen. 

Read a letter from Dr. Roer, Co-Secretary in the Oriental Depart- 
ment, proposing the removal of the Pundit on the grounds of incapacity 
for his duties—referred to the Committee of Papers. 

Presented a paper on the Coins of the Independent Mussalman 
sovereigns of Bengal, by J. W. Laidlay, Esq. 

Ditto, on the Ovis ammonoides and a new species of Tibetan antelope, 
with drawings, by B. TH. Hodgson, Esq., Darjeeling. Both these papers 
appear in the present number; the drawings illustrative of Mr. Hodg- 
son’s article are in the artist’s hands and will be published with the least 
avoidable delay. 

Read the following letter from the Secretary to Government, N. W. 
Provinces, forwarding drawings of some remarkable cave temples lately 
discovered in the Mirzapore district. 

No. 1182. 
From J. THornton, Esq. Secretary to Government, N. W. P. 
To the Secretary Asiatic Society, Calcutta. 

Genl. Dept. Lieut.-Governor’s Camp, the 19th December, 1846. 

Sir,—The Hon’ble the Lieutenant-Governor, having heard of certain cave Tem- 
ples in the vicinity of the hilly tracts south of Mirzapore, has taken steps to 
procure drawings of them through the Agency of Captain Stuart, Fort Adjutant of 
Chunar. His Honor has now desired me to transmit to you a copy of a letter 
received from that Officer, dated 3d ultimo, together with the original plans and 
sketches which accompanied it, and to request that you will place them at the dis- 
posal of the Asiatic Society for publication in their Journal, or for such other notice 
as they may be considered to deserve. 
I have the honor to be, Sir, 


Lieut.-Govr.’s Camp, Your most obedient servant, 
the 19th December, 1846. J. THORNTON, 
Secretary to Government, N. W. P. 
(Copy.) 


To J. THorntTon, Esq. Secretary to the Government, N. W. P. Agra. 


Sirz,—With reference to your letter No. 1106, of 26th December, 1845, request- 
ing me to procure all the information I could regarding some Cave Temples lately 
discovered in the Hilly tracts south of Mirzapore, and sanctioning a certain amount 
of outlay, for their preservation, I have the honor to state that I have this day 


M 2 


84 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (Jan. 


forwarded by Dawk Banghy for submission to His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, 
a set of plans and drawings executed by Mr. C. H. Burke, late of the Revenue 
Survey Department, deputed by me to visit the Caves for that purpose, which I feel 
assured will be considered highly satisfactory as well as creditable to Mr. Burke’s 
industry and talents. 

2. The Caves are three in number, called the Beeah Mandah Rownah, Mandah, 
and Chargoodree. They are situated in Talooqah Shapore, Singrowlee, Purgunnah 
Burdee, which at the period of the Benares settlement was a small independent Raj 
held by a branch of the Chundels of Agoree Burhur (vide Regulation II. of 1795, 
Section 17) but was subsequently absorbed into the Rewah state by an arrange- 
ment between the Rajahs of Rewah and Burdee, the latter of whom made over his 
sovereignty to the former in exchange for a pension. 

3. The country near the Caves is very inaccessible, being nothing but a succes- 
sion of rocky hills covered with dense jungle, containing a few miserable villages 
inhabited by wild aboriginal tribes, from whom no information of a satisfactory 
nature can be obtained; the Caves themselves are avoided with superstitious dread 
by the few remaining inhabitants, and are utterly abandoned to the wild beasts of 
the forest. 

4. The only answer given to queries on the subject is that they were construct- 
ed by the Balund Rajahs, a family of the Khurwar tribe, who held the sovereignty 
of Agoree, and Singrowlee, till expelled by the Chundels, who emigrated to this 
part of the country from Mohobah, somewhere about the year 1190, A. D. and 
obtained possession of Agoree, &c. by expulsion of the Balunds about 50 years 
subsequently. ; 

5. The representatives of the Balund Rajahs still reside ina village of Shapore 
Singrowlee, called Mirwas, and although dispossessed for nearly 600 years, still 
entertain a hope of one day being restored to their possessions. It is said that they 
are under a vow never to bind on a turban till the day of restoration. 

6. Some ruins of wells and brick buildings, as well as a Fort, are found in the 
Nilour hills, near a small village called Benowlee, 12 miles N. W. from the Caves, 
which is said to have been the ancient capital of Shapore Singrowlee, and the last 
strongholds of the Balunds, before their final expulsion, but no other remains are 
to be found indicating the former existence of a people capable of constructing such 
stupendous works. 

7. A small sketch map accompanies the drawings, showing the relative position 
of the three excavated Hills, which are situated from 10 to 14 Koss south of the 
most remote part of the Mirzapore district. 

I have, &c. 
Chunar, 3d November, 1846. (Signed) W.M. Sruarrt. 
(True Copy) 


A. SHAKESPEAR, 
Assistant Secretary to Government, N. W. P. 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 85 


On the proposal of the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, seconded by Mr. 
Colville, Advocate General, the respectful thanks of the Society were 
voted to the Hon’ble the Governor of the N. W. Provinces for the 
valuable communication and drawings above recorded. The drawings 
were referred to the Committee of Papers for consideration as to their 
publication. 

Read two letters from Captain Kittoe, respecting Budhistical remains 
discovered by him at Gaya. Referred to the Committee of Papers. 

Read the following letter from Captain Kittoe :— 


To the Secretary Asiatic Society, Calcutta. 
Sherghatti, 28th December, 1846. 

Drar Sir,—Some months ago I submitted a paper onthe subject of the Kootub 
aud adjacent ruins, but to this date I have received no reply or acknowledgment. 

Being desirous of altering some parts of my paper, I request the favor of its 
being returned to me. 

As an old member, and one who (as long as encouragement was offered by the 
acknowledgment of contributions) took much pains for the Society, I beg to pro- 
pose that for the future all communications be formally acknowledged, and that it 
be considered a rule, secondly, that such papers as may not be deemed by the Secre- 
taries and the Committee of Papers, suited to the Journal or Researches, may be 
returned to the contributor, with a letter to that effect. 

I would, with deference, recommend that as the journal is now (I believe) published 
at the expense of the Society and is much in arrears, the Numbers should be brought 
up, if even the number of pages be reduced, for the interest in ‘‘ proceedings’’ is 
lost from their now appearing several months after date—most contributors to 
Periodicals feel encouraged by the early publication of their papers. 

I feel sure that such an arrangement and the publication of the latest proceedings 
would have a beneficial effect. I, for one, should feel pleasure in affording my mite 
of assistance in the Antiquarian, or Architectural branches, as well as illustrations 
in outline, such as I have proposed in another letter, only now forwarded, though 
mostly written long since.* 

I remain, Dear Sir, 
Your’s faithfully, 
M. Kirros, Captain, 
Member. 

Read a letter from D.C. Mackey, Esq. Danish Consul, forwarding 

for the acceptance of the Society the Memoires de la Socielé Royale 


des Antiquaires du Nord, Section Asiatique. 


* Captain Kittoe will be pleased to find that his excellent suggestions have been 
anticipated in the Society’s recent arrangements.—Secs. 


86 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [JAN. 


To W. B. O’SuauGunessy, Esq. Secretary to the Asiatic Society. 

Sir,—I beg to hand you an extract from a letter I have received from the Secre- 
tary to the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen, and for the aid 
of your Society in their Researches I am enabled to assure you of their most cordial 
co-operation in connection with any scientific pursuit in which their services can be 
made available. 

I beg your acceptance of the accompanying three Nos. of the R. N. A. Society’s 
proceedings which have already been submitted to you, and when I receive more 
they shall be laid before your Society. 

I have the honor to be, Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
Danish Consulate, D. C. Mackey, 
Calcutta, 13th January, 1847. Danish Consul. 
Extract from Mr. Secretary Chas. Rafor’s letter. 

‘¢ On the formation of an Asiatic Section in our Society we have had in view the 
elucidation of the ancient monuments of Asia, which shall be the aim of our ear- 
nest exertions. In connexion with this object several works have been already 
commenced, among which we may here mention the Treatises on the connexion 
between Sanscrit and Icelandic (old Danish) whereof the first part is already 
printed, and on the decyphering on the second Achoemenian or Median species of 
arrow-headed writing by Professor N. L. Westergaard, the author of the Radices 
lingue Sanscritz, and the disquisition on the coins struck by the Buids, by the Rev. 
Jas. C. Lindberg, A. M. which we hope will meet with especial favour in Asia, in- 
asmuch as our Cabinet is in possession of several hitherto unknown coins of this 
class.”’ 


Read a letter from Lieutenant Strachey, promising a copy of the 
narrative of his recent tour to the lake districts of Manésarowar, for 
publication in the Society’s Journal. 

Mr. Laidlay read a list of coins, received by him from Mr. Torrens. 
Mr. Laidlay was requested to retain the coins in his charge, depositing 
a list with the senior Secretary for office record. 

Read a letter from Lieutenant Wroughton, forwarding copy of an 
inscription which has been referred to the Oriental Sub-Committee 
for examination. 

Read the accompanying note from Mr. Heatly, forwarding letters 
and publications from the Statistical and Ethnological Societies of 
London. 

To W. B. O’Suaucunessy, Esg. Secretary, Asiatic Society. 

My berAR Sir,—I have the pleasure to place in your hand two letters from Mr. 

King, Honorary Secretary to the Ethnological Society, and Assistant Secretary to 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 87 


the Statistical Society—together with a packet of publications from those Associa- 
tions, catalogued in the accompayning lists, The latter are a donation to the 
Asiatic Society and intended to open friendly relations between the donors, and the 
cultivators of similar pursuits in this country. 
Your’s sincerely, 
S. G. T. Heatty. 
Star Press, 13th January, 1847. 
Statistical Society of London, 
12, St. James’ Square, 
22d October, 1846. 
Srr,—I am instructed to forward to you a complete set of the Statistical Society’s 
Journal, a Volume of its Transactions and six copies of its first series of questions, 
as wellas all the forms we have in print, as a donation to the Asiatic Society of 
Calcutta. 
I have the honor to be, 
Your most obedient servant, 
RicHarp Kine, 
Assistant Secretary. 
To 8. G. T. Heatry, Esq. 
27, Sackville Street, 
21st October, 1846. 
Str,—I beg to enclose a set of the Ethnological Society’s publications up to the 
present time, with the view of an exchange for those published by your Society. 
I have the honor to be, Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
RicHarp KINe, 


To 8. G. T. Heatty, Esq. Asiatic Society of Calcutta. Honry. Secy. 

Ethnological Society’s Publications up to the present time :— 

I. Ethnological Society, pages 1 & 2. 

II. Queries respecting the Human Race, pages 3 to 14. 

Ill. The study of Ethnology by Ernest Dieffenbach, M. D. pages 15 to 78. 

IV. On the Ancient Peruvians, by Dr. De Tschudi, pages 79 to 102. 

V. On the Biluchi Tribes inhabiting Sindh, in the lower valley of the Indus and 
Cutchi, pages 103 to 210. 

VI. Address to the Ethnological Society of London, delivered at the anniversary 
meeting on the 25th May, 1844, by Richard King, M. D. Secretary, pages 7 to 40. 

VII. Address to the Ethnological Society of London, delivered at the anniversary 
meeting on the 26th May, 1845, by Rear Admiral Sir Charles Malcolm, President, 
pages 41 to 62. 

VIII. The Regulations and List of members of the Ethnological Society of Lon- 
don, 1843, 1844, pages 1 to 14. 

Transactions of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. I Part }, 1837: 


88 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ Jan. 


Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vols. I. to X. 

First series of questions circulated by the Statistical Society of London, 1836, 
6 Copies. 

16 Forms of Statistical Report. 


The Librarian submitted the followmg list of Books received, and of 
‘Donations to the Society’s General Museum :— 


List of Books, Sc. received for the Meeting of Wednesday, the 13th 
January, 1847. 


PRESENTED. 


1.—Meteorological Register kept at the Surveyor General’s office—FRrom THE 
SurvVEYOR GENERAL’S OFFICE. 

2.—Meteorological Register kept at Kyouk Phyoo during November, 1846.— 
From THE SURVEYOR GENERAL’S OFFICE. 

3.—The Calcutta Christian Observer for December, 1846 and Jan. 1847.—By THE 
EDITORS. : 

4.—The Oriental Christian Spectator for December, 1846.—By tur Epitor. 

5.—An attempt to explain some of the monograms found upon the Grecian coins of 
Ariana and India, by A. Cunningham.—By Tur AuTnor. 

6.—Vedantic Doctrines Vindicated.— By Basu Rasenpraua Mirrra. 

7.—The Hindu Intelligencer, 5 Nos.—By Tue Epiror. 

8.—Contributions to Terrestrial Magnetism, by Lieut. Col. E. Sabine. —By tue 
BENGAL GOVERNMENT. 


EXCHANGED. 
9.—The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, No. 82. 
10.—Journal of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India, Vol. V. part III. 
11.—Calcutta Journal of Natural History, No. 27. 
12.—The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, No. 194. 


PuRCHASED. 


13.—Conchologia Iconica, from No. 13 to 36. 

14.—Thesaurus Conchyliorum, by G. B. Sowerby, Jr. Parts 4th, 5th, 6th. 
15.—The Classical Museum, No. XIII. 

16.—The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 119. 
17.—Journal des Savans, Aout 1846. 

18.—The Calcutta Review, No. 12. 


DonaATIONS TO THE Museum. 


1.—A Steel and Tinder-box used by the natives of Lahl and Kooloo, Donor—H. 
Torrens, Esq. 


1847. ] Report. 89 


2.—Model of a Chinese Plough, Donor—Major Evin, H. M.’s. 98th Regt. 

3.—Chinese arithmetical table, Donor—Major Epier. 

4.—Model of a Chain Pump used by the Natives of China, and adapted both for 
manual and cattle labour, Donor—Major Ente. 


For all the above communications and donations to the Society the 
thanks of the meeting were unanimously voted. 

Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy exhibited specimens of explosive paper 
exactly like ¢alc, prepared by dissolving the gun cotton in Sulphuric 
ether, and allowing the solution to evaporate spontaneously. He de- 
scribed also some singular electrical properties manifested by this 


paper. 


REPORT. 


At a meeting of the Asiatic Society held on the 13th of January, 
1847, the following Revort on the Society's affairs was read and 
received, and directed to be printed, for distribution to the resident 
members, prior to the discussion at the February meeting of the several 
propositions it contains. 

In compliance with the desire expressed by several members of the 
Society at the December meeting, the Secretaries, on the part and with 
the concurrence of the Committee of Papers, submit a succinct report 
on the state of the Society’s affairs, and of the views of the Committee 
regarding the measures they deem best calculated to uphold its charac- 
ter and promote its utility. 

The Society at present numbers 136 members, of whom 17 were 
admitted during the last year. No record exists of the withdrawals, 
deaths or other casualties by which the number of members has been 
reduced, a deficiency the Committee of Papers point out as one which 
the Secretaries should in future supply. 

Of the 136 members there are not more than 100 who contribute 
with regularity to the Society’s income. Two members have recently 
claimed exemption from the payment of subscription on the grounds of 
having been on the list for 20 years. As much doubt exists as to the 
expediency of admitting this claim for exemption, the Committee recom- 
mend the subject to the immediate consideration of the Society at large. 

The Committee of Papers and Office-bearers as appointed in March 
1846, consisted of-— 


90 Report. [ JAN. 


Vice-Presidents.—The Lord Bishop of Calcutta, Sir J. P. Grant, 
Sir H. W. Seton, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes, and H. Torrens, Esq. 

Secretary.—H. Torrens, Esq. 

Committee.—Rev. Dr. Heeberlin, W. P. Grant, Esq., C. Huffnagle, 
Esq., G. A. Bushby, Esq., W. Tayler, Esq., Baboo Prosonocoomar 
Tagore, 8. G. T. Heatly, Esq., W. B. O'Shaughnessy, Esq. M. D., 
and Capt. Broome, H. A. 

Of these Messrs. Torrens and Huffnagle have permanently left Cal- 
cutta. The Hom’ble Sir H. Seton expresses himself unable from the 
state of his health to take any active part in the Society’s business. Mr, 
W. Tayler has withdrawn, and Baboo Prosonocoomar Tagore has not 
been able to give his attendance or attention to our affairs. 

In accordance with the long established practice of the Society to 
supply vacancies by annual election, it accordingly becomes necessary 
to elect members of the Committee of Papers in the room of Messrs. 
Tayler, Huffnagle, and Prosonocoomar Tagore.* 

In consequence of the resignation of Mr. Torrens, Dr. W. B. 
O’Shaughnessy and Mr. J. W. Laidley were elected Co-Secretaries at 
the meetings of August and September, and Dr. Roer, a Co-Secretary 
in the Oriental Department, in November, 1846. Baboo Rajendra Lal 
Mitra was also elected Librarian and Assistant Secretary at the Novem- 
ber meeting on a monthly Salary of 100 Rupees, and for a probationary 
period of 6 months. 

At the November meeting a Sub-Committee or section, was also ap- 
pointed for advice and reference to all matters connected with Oriental 
literature. Of this Sub-Committee Major Marshall, the Rev. Mr. Long, 
the Rev. Dr. Heeberlin and Dr. Roer were appointed members, and 
Captain Latter was added to their number at the December meeting. 

Finance and Accounts. 

The Accounts not having been published for some years, the Sec- 
retaries and the Accountant have been engaged in the laborious task of 
examining all the receipts and vouchers since 1842, and comparing these 
with the abstract Annual Accounts received from the late Accountant, 


* The following gentlemen have accordingly been elected at the Meeting of Janu- 
ary, 1847, as members of the Committee of Papers to supply vacancies. Messrs. 
J. Colville, Advocate General, Welby Jackson, Esq. C. S., W. Grey, Esq. C.S., and 
R. W. G. Frith, Esq. 


1847. | Report. : 91 


Mr. Bolst. This task is nearly completed and the results will be duly 
reported. Meanwhile the Committee of Papers recommend the imme- 
diate publication of the whole of Mr. Bolst’s statements, for the infor- 
mation of the Society at large. 

The Committee express their regret that these accounts have not been 
regularly printed in detail and circulated to the members, a step which 
would have obviated much misconception which has subsequently arisen. 

A resolution having been passed at the September Meeting, directing 
the immediate payment of the Society’s debts by the sale of Company’s 
Paper or other available means, the following sums have been paid ac- 


cordingly :— 
ar rd Bord’s Portrait, . ... often) & Rav 1368" 9 
mereislyth’s Arrears of rent, 5.05. 63. 2d 440 0 0 
Messrs. Currie and Co. for almirahs, &c. .... ADR 4 0 
Messrs. Ostell and Lepage, (for books,)...... 122 4 0 
Mr. Piddington, arrears of salary,.......... 200 0 0O 
Bee rission. Press, 2. 2802 5208 418 0 0 
Meee Collese Pressy a ly Soe PY '@ 
Der eee. ee. eat ls ety Sa Dio a Mal - 


| 


Cos Rs/41,127. 12 V1 

And in compliance with further resolutions the sum of 3,000 Rs. has 
been reserved for the payment of Mr. Blyth’s contingent claim,* making 
in all, paid and reserved to meet acknowledged debts Co.’s Rs. 14,127 
12 tk. 

The produce of the back numbers of the Journal it is expected will 
be available for the liquidation of the debt of Rupees 1,500 due to Mr. 
Torrens—for the purchase of a Stock of the Journal, to that amount. 

The Co-Secretaries having received from their predecessor Com- 
pany’s Paper, Value Co.’s Rs............ 13,066 10 8 


BRA PRI AREC ES a aid se: eyu'.n is h)'* 0 sims mis 1530912 9 

And subsequently collected on account of 
SUED Ry eae nn eae a Ga 0 

And received from Government, ........... 2,228 0 0 


Covsuiscakylo? 13-5 
And paid or reserved as above detailed, .. Co.’s Rs. 14,127 12 11 


* See Proceedings for Nov, 1846. p. 1xxxviii. 
N 2 


g2 Report. [ JAN. 


it becomes their disagreeable duty to announce, that, reserving 3,000 
Rupees due to Mr. Blyth and 1,500 Rupees due to Mr. Torrens, the 
actual Cash Balance in hand on the 30th of December, 1846, is Co.’s 
Rs. 1,530 0 6, of which 1,000 Rupees, the Government contribution for 
October and November for Oriental publications, must also be reserved 
for the special purpose for which it was granted, leaving a net balance 
of Co.’s Rupees 530 0 6 for the purposes of the Society, and which will 
be totally absorbed by the payment of the balance due on account of 
the “ Burnes”’ drawings. 

The Society’s monthly income proceeds from the following sources : 

The Government allow for 


Oriental Publications, monthly, ..... Co.’s Rs. 500 0 O 
Muspaniiot Geology; 20. Yoo ee ee ee 250 0. @ 
Contingencies of museum of Geology, ........ 64 0 0 
ea aia is 9 250 0 0 
SPCEMERES Se. OY ae A er oe 500 0 O 


Co.'s. Rs. L114. O29 
This sum is clearly only applicable to the special objects for which 
Government allow it—and whatever misconception or irregularity in 
this respect may have hitherto taken place, it deeply concerns the cha- 
racter and even the existence of the Asiatic Society to insist on the 
future application of these grants, being strictly in accordance with the 
mstructions of Government. 
The Society further receives annually from Pay- 
lane MIGMBET Sg cn.» akin Se. 2)8omin) a ial Teale e,ca pO COMO EN 
Subscription to Journal, sc. els oes cicdie soe) LOR) oOiO 
Average Sale of Publications according to last 
WAM BVETAL Oy)... iichae ale aldiaiepal «david eS.a 75a. 0.0 


Annual Co.’s Rs. 10,179 O O 


Monthly Income, 5, 848 5 4 

This Income is expended as follows :-— 
Assistant Secretary and Librarian, ......... «? 100520700 
Librany Hsteblishimenty.}y 5... coe. ee os 52 ~B oO 
‘Establishment of Zoological museum,........ 138 0 0 
Curator’s House-rent....... FoR outa SiOe o% 40 0 0 


1847.] Report. 0% 


Secretaries’ Establishment, ............000. 86 0 0 
ORNS AE TRS. 8) TA 10 O O 
Printing of Journal, ......... vite ie shay SABE: O° 0 
Miscellaneous printing,........ 0... cece eee o 0 10 


Co.’s Rs. 866 8 0 
Check and Audit. 

The next subject to be considered is the regulation of the Society’s 
expenditure, especially of such funds as it may hold in trust for special 
purposes from Government, from learned Societies, or munificent indi- 
viduals. | 

Recent resolutions of the Society have been passed declaring the 
course the Society should in future pursue, but unless there be adopted 
a regular system of Check and Audit, we can never be certain but that 
funds granted for one purpose are applied to another, thereby leading 
to ill feeling, disunion and consequent loss of character to the Society. 

The Committee therefore propose that the accountant be required 
to attend the monthly meetings with a Dr. and Cr. account, state- 
ment of dependencies and vouchers, and that the same be read at 
each meeting as a regular part of the proceedings of the month—that 
a balance sheet be published once in each year; that one period of 
payment be adopted and that within the first week after every monthly 
meeting ; that at the monthly meetings all demands on the Society 
should be produced and the amounts if sanctioned entered on the 
proceedings, excluding of course the regular Establishments. The sign- 
ing of checques as well as the general business of the Society should 
further be conducted by one Secretary only—the office establishment 
being under his control, and in his absence by the Co-Secretary next 
in seniority of appointment. All correspondence moreover on the 
Society’s business in every department should be signed or countersigned 
by the Senior Secretary and copies filed in his office, 


The preceding summary of the accounts points out but too clearly, 
that the Society from its own means can at present do no more, than 
maintain the Journal, and provide for Establishments and Contingencies 
strictly on the foregoing scale—and it seems necessary to intimate to the 
Curators and other officers that it becomes their duty at present rather 


94 Report. ek ie [ JAN. 


to preserve existing collections than to incur any avoidable expenses in 
making additions to our Museums,—and that under no circumstances, 
short of a general vote of the Society, can the seale of “ Contingencies” 
assigned by Government be exceeded in their departments. 

Under this head it seems necessary to observe that the European tem- 
porarily engaged since November, 1846, as a night watch in the Society’s 
house, at 40 Rs. per mensem, has been discharged from the 5th inst. 
The native chokedars are retained ; the Committee are of opinion that 
when the Society’s funds permit the outlay it will be indispensable 
to have a European keeper or porter resident in the premises. Such a 
man can be obtained onthe guarantee of the Police Authorities for 40 
rupees a month. It should be a part of his duty to accompany visitors 
through the rooms, and he should be entrusted with the special charge 
of such coins or other moveable articles of particular value as the Society 
may possess. Had such a person been employed for the last three 
years, it is not probable that we now should have to deplore the loss 
of the fine collection of coins and the gold medal of the Emperor of 
Russia of which we have been lately despoiled.* 


PUBLICATIONS. 

We have next to notice the important subject of the Society’s Pub- 
lications, of which the Journal has first to be considered. 

The Committee of Papers are unanimously of opinion that on the 
maintenance of the Journal, the regularity of its appearance, and the 
judicious selection of its contents, depend chiefly the usefulness and 
the reputation of the Society. Recent changes among the officers have 
interfered with its regular appearance, but measures are now complete 
for its issue in the Ist week of each month. The Committee append 
a list of the papers now in hand for their periodical, and the varied 
nature of these contributions and the known ability of the authors, 
hold out most gratifying prospects of this department of the Society’s 
labours proving creditable to themselves and beneficial to the public. 

The monthly reports of Proceeding having been printed up to the 
close of 1846, but not issued since March, the Committee of Papers 
propose to distribute the whole at once this month, as a supplement to 

* The members of the Committee of Papers have since this Report was drawn up 


retained at their own cost a retired European Sergeant strongly recommended to 
them by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, and who now resides on the premises, 


1847. | ? Report. 95 


the Journal, in the form of the series herewith submitted.“ And in 
future they think it would be’ conducive to the utility of the Society to 
publish abstracts of the proceedings in the daily papers, as was done in 
former years. 

Oriental Publications. 

For this valuable object a sum of 500 Rs. per mensem, has been 
munificently granted by Government in the year 1838, and applied in 
strict accordance with the directions of Government till the close of the 
year 1840, and the mode of application duly reported to Government. 
From this period it appears on reference to the accounts published in 
1842, for 1841, in the Journal Vol. XI. part I. p. 198, and rendered by 
Mr. Bolst, but not hitherto published from 1842 to 1846, that through 
some misunderstanding of the orders of Government, the greater part 
of the monthly grant has been applied to purposes which, however useful 
or important, were not contemplated im the terms of the grant. The ex- 
penses of the Zoological drawings by Sir A. Burnes, and of those of Dr. 
Cantor’s Chusan Zoology, constitute the heaviest items of this irregular 
expenditure, being specified in Mr. Bolst’s abstracts, under the head of 
‘«< Oriental Publications,” and uci to Co.’s Rs. 6833: 14: 9, as 


follows : 

1842. Paid J. Bennett for Sir A. Burnes’ drawings, Rs. 650 0 0 
Mressrs. Gall and Co. for do. do... 4502.00 4.2145 0.0 
SVE TSIS () as (0 0 (0 or a 643 0 0 

1843. Paid Mr. Bennett for Sir A. Burnes’ drawings,.. 200 0 0 
RIAN CT LOT ADs sain a0iin «ay oieie oie ys vies w oo aes 225) 3-49 

1844, Paid Mr. Bennett for Sir A. Burnes’ drawings,. . ES. 70% 0 
Do. for Dr. Cantor’s Chusan Zoology, ........ 900 0 0 

1845. Paid Mr. Bennett on account of Dr. Cantor’s Zoo- 

RE ie in <, ahnis FREES ee ee Sn ane 800 0 O 
Meee VAL ATA LOT PTT) «ohio tseifa, diaigi-a 9 sas wrens ars 261. 9 Gena 
Do. balance for Burnes’ drawings,............ 68 4 0 
1846. Paid Mrs. Ballin for lithographing Burnes’ draw- 
(To July.) ings, , . ‘ "A 5221 


Zw 
ak Bennet for Dr. Cantor's Gikusan Soca uh 400 0 QO 


Co.’s Rs. 6833 14 9 


* This has been done since the January meeting. 


96 Report. [Jan. 


During the period in question the Society has published, or paid 
towards the publication of ‘ Oriental’? works :— 


Paid for publishing Oriental works,..............-. 6,463 1 6 
Do. for purchase of Oriental works, &c............. 657 10 0 
Do. Contingent charges for Do...............-- en OY RR! 


Amount disbursed on account of Oriental | Co’s Rs. 7,682 


Publications from 1842 to 1846, ..... J ters 
Kstablishment for preservation of Oriental 

works, &c. from September to December | ihe as 38 272):0. 0 

1846, @ 68 Rs. per month, .......... 


Total Co.’s Rs. 7,954 11 5 
Dec. 31, 1846. 


While we have received during the same period at 500 
Rs. per month for five years,........ Co.’s Rs. 30,000 0 0 
leaving Co.’s Rs. 22,045 4 7. 

Due by the Society to the account of the grant in question.* 


The Committee of Papers have been led to this retrospective view of 
the subject of the Oriental publication grant by the circumstances which 
have followed the resolutions adopted by the Society at their meeting of 
November, 1846, and which gave rise to the annexed correspondence. 


To G. A. Bususy, Esa. 
Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department. 


Sir,—I am directed by the Asiatic Society of Bengal to convey through you 
their most respectful solicitation that, in the future disposal of the means placed in 
their hands by Government for the promotion of Oriental literature, they may be 
permitted to defray from the monthly allowance of Co.’s Rs. 500, the expense of 
printing in the Society’s Transactions and Journal all papers on the subjects named 
in the subjoined resolution—And also to meet therefrom the cost of preserving the 
Oriental works now in the Library, for which a monthly allowance of 78 Rs. long 
awarded by Government has been recently withdrawn. 

I have, &c. &c. 
(Signed) W. B. O’SHAUGHNESSY, 
Senior Secretary, Asiatic Society. 


* Of Which Rs. 1,500, the amount received on this account since Sept. 1846, are 
in hand and available for the regular purpose according to the Government order. 


1847. | Report. 97 


Resolution adopted by a General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of 
Bengal, 4th November, 1846. 


Resolved, that Government be respectfully solicited to permit the Society to de- 
fray from the monthly allowance of Rs. 500 for Oriental Publications, first, the 
expense of the custody of the works now in store (for which a sum of 78 rupees per 
mensem allowed by Government has lately been withdrawn) and 2d, the cost of 
publication in the Society’s Transactions and Journal of all papers on Oriental litera- 
ture, History, Antiquities, Geography and kindred subjects of research. 


The following reply from Mr. Secretary Bushby, dated 21st Novem- 
ber, 1846, was received after the meeting of December. 


From G. A. Bususy, Esa. Secretary to the Government of India. 


Dated 21st November, 1846. Home Department. 


To W. B. O’SHauGuNnessy, Esa. Senior Secretary, Asiatic Society. 


Sir,—‘‘ I am directed by the Hon’ble the President in Council to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter dated the 7th instant, conveying the solicitation of the 
Society, that in the future disposal of the means placed in their hands by Govern- 
ment for the promotion of Oriental Literature, they may be permitted to defray 
from the monthly allowance of Co.’s Rs. 500, the expense of printing in the So- 
ciety’s Transactions and Journal, all papers on Oriental Literature, History, Anti- 
quities, Geography and kindred subjects of research, and also to meet therefrom 
the cost of preserving the Oriental Works now in the Library.” 


2. “In order the better to be able to decide on the Society’s Application, the 
President in Council could wish to have before him a statement in detail of the 
manner in which the Government grant of 500 Rs. per mensem has hitherto been 
appropriated.”’ 


3. ‘* His honor in Council remarks that the conditions of the grant have not 
been fully carried out by the Society. One of these conditions was that an Annual 
Account should be rendered by the Society of the manner in which the Government 
donation had been expended. This seems to have been lost sight of, for the only 
account current rendered by the Society is that forwarded with your letter dated 
the 13th January, 1840.”’ 


4, *‘ Again it should be shown how the wish expressed by the Hon’ble Court of 
Directors in regard to the printing of the text of the Vedas, with a commentary, 
has been kept in mind, and what may be the purpose of the Asiatic Society in 
regard to the publication of this important Record.’’ 


98 Report. [ Jan. 


5. The President in Council will on receipt of the statement above called for, be 
better prepared to judge of the manner of the past appropriation of phe Govern- 
ment grant, and to decide on the present application of the Society. 

I have, &c. &c. 
(Signed) G. A. Bususy, 
Secretary to the Government of India. 

Council Chamber, the 21st November, 1846. 

On receipt of Mr. Bushby’s letter the Secretaries, then but recently 
elected, made the requisite examination of the accounts, with the result 
set forth in the foregoing sketch, and which correspond with the gene- 
ral statements previously made by the Sub-Committee of Finance, but 
unintelligible because unaccompanied by details. 

The Committee of Papers regret deeply that any portion of the 
Oriental Publication Fund should have been used for other purposes, 
and they consider the Society bound to acknowledge the sum so used 
as a debt to Government, but one of which the present state of their 
pecuniary affairs, renders it impracticable for them to offer immediate 
payment. In partial extenuation of the irregularity, the Committee 
refer with some satisfaction to the magnificent Zoological collections, 
to the procural of which no small portion of the fund has been directed, 
to the very large contributions made to the Museum of the India House 
—and to the additions to their buildings, and the gathermg together of 
suitable monuments in their Hall to the great men by whose labours the 
Asiatic Society has gained such fame, as the patrons and promoters of 
Oriental, Literary, and Antiquarian research. The Committe too would 
represent to Government that for 58 years previous to this grant the 
greater part of their funds has been expended on the publication of re- 
searches of the same, or an allied nature, and in the promotion of every 
branch of antiquarian investigation. Having at least disbursed more 
than two lacks of Rupees in this pursuit, the Committee trust that Go- 
vernment will look indulgently on the irregularity which has occurred. 
They would state that it was in no small degree caused by the indiffer- 
ence of the few Oriental Scholars among us during the period under 
review to the editing or publishing of works of acknowledged import- 
ance. They would express the resolution of the Society—to watch 
carefully over the future application of the grant, and to refer regard- 
ing this on all occasions to the advice of the section of eminent Orien- 
talists already appointed for the purpose. 


1847. | Report. 99 


Meanwhile the question of the mode of publication of the Vedas has 
been referred to the Oriental Sub-Committee, who are as yet unprepared 
with their Report. The Rev. Dr. Heberlin has recently intimated 
to the Committee that he is publishing the Smritis under the Society’s 
authority, and that the whole of the grant for 1847 is thus forestal- 
led. But as the records of the Society contain no evidence of this 
publication having been duly authorized, and as it appears that the 
greater portion of the Smritis have already been published by a Native 
Editor, the Committee recommend that the work be not further pro- 
ceeded with, until the Vedas are finished.* 

Lastly, with reference to Mr. Bushby’s letter, the Committee of Pa- 
pers suggest that, should their views meet the approbation of the So- 
ciety, the Secretaries be directed to draft a reply in corresponding terms 
and submit the same to the Committee for revisal, and that in this 
reply the Society should, under the circumstances now elicited, beg the 
permission of Government to withdraw their former application. 


The financial difficulties above specified render it-obviously impracti- 
cable to carry out the Society’s resolution to print Colonel Everest’s 
Trigonometrical observations, as a volume of Transactions. It becomes 
equally impossible to proceed with the “‘ Burnes’ drawings. 


amen tieve were imall. 0) 600s ee ee a 146 
These have = hota st wrote 50 
Riskeshiovien  Ghegyty. tae; 20 
Manumaliasy io. OOS ST) 9 
BISA 2k hOONR. A ot. POU 
Reptiles iar Hi ae PT 7 
20 
Those completed have cost Co.’s Rs. 5682 1 6 
Lt SSE Ean Toe 9, SCO Pi wees ot bk G 
Due, ns nF 600 0 0 
5682 1 6 


To finish the whole as directed by the Society in 1841,+ would cost 


* A proposition on this subject reecived from the Rev. Dr. Heberlin on the 28th 
January will be submitted to the next meeting. 
+ See Vol. XIII. Part 2d, Proceedings, page c. 


100 Report. [Jan. 


at least 12,000 Rupees more, a sum altogether beyond our means, or 
our reasonable prospects. 

The Zoological Curator Mr. Blyth, is engaged in the MS. of the 
descriptive drawings completed, and the Committee propose to issue the 
whole ina Portfolio to the members of the Society, as soon as Mr. 
Blyth enables them to do so. 

Regarding Dr. Cantor’s very beautiful drawings, the Secretaries have 
failed to obtain some essential information, and which they cannot hope 
for, before Mr. Torrens’ expected visit to Calcutta im the ensuing month. 
The Committee of Papers confidently expect that in connexion with the 
Journal nearly the whole of Dr. Cantor’s drawings will be published by 
the Society within a moderate period. 


Alterations in Society’s rules. 

The Committee next invite the consideration of the Society to a 
proposal they regard as one of very great consequence. It has lately 
happened on several occasions that at scanty meetings, measures have 
been adopted and officers elected without any previous notice or oppor- 
tunity for deliberation,—or for the expression of the general opinion of 
the members on the several proposals. The danger to which this ex- 
poses the society, is equally serious and obvious. They may at any time 
find a few members voting away funds or altering their organization so 
as to favor some particular pursuit. To prevent this the Committee 
suggest that in future all proposals affecting expenditure, election of 
officers, changes of organization, and generally all questions of import- 
ance, be first duly notified at a general meeting, then referred to the 
Committee of Papers for report, and not decided on finally, until passed 
by a general meeting, (after such report shall have been submitted,) at 
which at least 12 members must be present. 


Institution of Sections. 

The Committee are further desirous to advert to the strong necessity 
which appears to exist for forming special Committees or Sections 
among the members resident in Calcutta and its vicinity, for advice and 
reference to on subjects demanding peculiar acquirements in the indivi- 
duals who are consulted. 

It may be said that the Committee of Papers are so constituted or so 


1847.| | Report. 101 


intended as to represent the different objects of the Society, but experi- 
ence has proved beyond doubt that it never has so answered. The 
Committee has been at one time almost exclusively composed of gentle- 
men who deemed Oriental Literature the paramount object of the 
Society, and at another period we have seen researches in Oriental 
philology nearly abandoned in favour of Zoology and kindred sciences. 

By the appointment of Sub-Committees or Sections, subject to annual 
election, for advice and reference, to which their functions should be 
strictly limited, and to be referred to only through the Committee 
of Papers, as Council of the Society,—we would have the means of 
combining in one group men of similar attainments, to whom the 
Society, through the Committee of Papers, could refer their doubts 
and difficulties for consideration and advice, and who would, from time 
to time, themselves suggest the objects to which the patronage of the 
Society might be profitably applied. 

How efficiently this plan works in the French Institute, in the British 
Association, and in the Royal Society of London, the Committee need 
not press on consideration. They are persuaded it will prove highly 
beneficial if adopted by the Asiatic Society. It has already been par- 
tially acted upon at the November meeting, by the appointment of the 
following gentlemen as an Oriental Sub-Committee. Members.— 
The Rev. Dr. Heeberlin, the Rev. Mr. Long, Major Marshall, and 
Dr. Roer. 

It is now proposed to extend the plan by forming for the following 
year similar Sub-Committees. 

1. Geology and Mineralogy. 

2. Zoology and Natural History. 

3. Meteorology and Physics. 

4. Geography and Indian Statistics. 

It is recommended that the Secretaries of the Society be the Se- 
cretaries of the sections also. The Sub-Committees should be ex-officio 
Inspectors of the Museums in their several departments, and it should 
be strongly urged upon the section of Meteorology to take measures for 
securing for the Society a monthly Meteorological Report of Baro- 
meter, Sympiesometer, Thermometer, Hygrometer, also Rain Gauge, 
Anemometer, and a Register of thunder storms on the plan prescribed 
by Arago (v. Annuaire, Art. “‘ Tonnerre,”) such as those which in the 


102 Report. [JAan. 


time of the lamented James Prinsep adorned each issue of the Journal, 
and provided data for Meteorologists all over India, wherewith to com- 
pare and correct their individual researches. 

The Committee have only further to express their earnest hope that 
the members of a Society, the oldest in India, and holding a distin- 
guished place in the estimation of the scientific world, will individually 


as well as in co-operation with each other, make their best efforts to. 


promote the objects for which the Society has been instituted. In 
every department for research we number members of eminent acquire- 
ments. Those residing at distant stations will find in the sections now 
proposed representatives of their special pursuits with whom to corre- 
spond, with whom to compare, or mature the results of their enquiries. 
The Committee trust that new and efficient labourers will thus be soon 
induced to join our ranks thereby increasing our funds to such an amount 
as may enable us with the generous aid at present afforded by Govern- 
ment, to extend efficient patronage to every branch of research, which 
it is the province of the Asiatic Society to promote. 


In submitting the preceding Report the Secretaries desire in justice 
to their eminent predecessor to republish here the resolution of the 
Society passed at the meeting of November, 1846, respecting the previ- 
ous management of the accounts and expenditure. 


Extract from Proceedings of Nov. 1846. 


A letter having been read from Mr. Torrens to the Co-Secretary re- 
garding the accounts and expenditure of the Society during his secre- 
tariat— 

It was resolved unanimously and directed to be laid before the next 
general meeting for record. 

That the Committees beg leave to repeat prominently the previous 
declaration of the Finance Committee, that the confusion in the accounts 
of the Journal arose entirely from an accidental omission and error on 
the part of the accountant, and further that they consider that every act 
of Mr. Torrens, in the management of the Society’s pecuniary affairs 
has been done most openly and with their full cognizance and sanction. 


(Adopted by the November Meeting.) 


1847.| Report. 103 


The following Accounts, and documents are appended for the infor- 
mation of the Society :-— 

1.—Mr. Bolst’s abstract annual accounts, from January, 1842, to 
July, 1846. 

2.—General sketch of account from 1842 to Dec. 1846, compiled by 
Mr. Muller, from Mr. Bolst’s statements. 

3.—Detailed account of expenditure on Oriental publications for the 
same period. 

4.—Statement of the amounts received by the sale of Oriental pub- 
lications. 

5.—Statement of the Society’s income. 

6.—List of Members, and Office-bearers for 1847. 


Asiatic Society of Bengal, January, 1847. 


SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT. 


At a Meeting of the Asiatic Society, held on Wednesday evening, the 
10¢/ Fesruary, 1847. 


The Hon’ble Sir J. P. Grant, in the Chair. 


The Report submitted to the January meeting was taken into consi- 
deration. 

Major Marshall objected to the mode in which the vacancies in the 
Committee of Papers had been filled wp at the last meeting, and thought 
a bond fide annual clection should take place, which he proposed should 
now be resorted to. 

After some discussion it was proposed by the Lord Bishop of Cal- 
cutta, seconded by Mr. Ward, and carried with but one dissentient voice, 
that a formal election of all office-bearers should be resorted to in future, 
leaving the present arrangement undisturbed. 


104 Report. [JAN. 


With reference to the paragraph in the Report which relates to the 
Rev. Dr. Heeberlin’s edition of the Smvritis, the senior Secretary read 
the following letter from Dr. Heeberlin, dated the 30th January, 1847. 


My pear Srr,—With reference to my proposal to print an entire collection of 
the Smritis, as submitted to the meeting of the Asiatic Society on the Ist of July 
last, I have the pleasure to inform you, that soon after that date, I addressed a letter 
to Mr. H. Torrens, then Secretary to the Society, stating, at his request, the probable 
expense of the undertaking, and requesting to know as soon as possible whether the 
Committee of Papers had sanctioned the arrangement, and when I might commence 
upon the work. 

In reply Mr. Torrens stated, that I could commence the work whenever I pleas- 
ed. I send for your perusal his letter to me. A considerable portion of the work 
has in consequence of this intimation of the then Secretary, been already printed. A 
specimen of the same I beg herewith to forward to you. 

As it now appears that the Asiatic Society is scarcely in a position to carry on 
this important work, I am ready to take the entire responsibility upon myself if the 
Society will subscribe for 100 Copies. The work will be issued in two octavo 
volumes, and the price per volume will not exceed 10 Rupees. 

I should be sorry, if from any circumstance, the publication of this interesting 
work should be retarded. Hitherto no attempt has been made to collect these 
scattered writings. A few of these Smritis only were some years ago ‘printed in 
Bengali characters, and in the form of the usual Native Puthis; but these are not 
generally known, nor are they at all fitted for common use. I am, therefore willing, 
with the assistance of the Society, to bear a considerable risk myself, rather than 
postpone the publication of the work to any future period. Kindly let me know, 
as soon as possible, whether this proposal meet with the approbation of the Society. 

Believe me,: yours sincerely, 
J, H#BERLIN. 


The Senior Secretary stated on the part of the Committee of Papers, 
that they recommend to the Society the adoption of the Rey. Dr. Heeber- 
lin’s proposal, and a subscription to the Smritis for 100 copies, to be 
paid from the “ Oriental Grant.” Agreed unanimously. 

Captain Broome proposed the addition of a section to represent 
Numismatics and Architectural Antiquities ; this was seconded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes, and unanimously agreed to. 

The Senior Secretary, on the part of the Committee of Papers, read 
the subjoined list of members proposed for the several Sections. 


1347.| Report. 105 


Section 1.—Oriental Interature and Philology.* 


The Rev. Dr. Heeberlin. G. A. Bushby, Esq. 
Rev. J. Long. Major Marshall. 
Baboo Debendronath Tagore. Welby Jackson, Esq. 


Baboo Hurreemohun Sen. 
Secretary—Dr. Roer. 


Section 2.—Natural History. 
J. W. Grant, Esq. Captain Munro. 
R. W. G. Frith, Esq. 

Secretary—J. W. Laidlay, Esq. 

Section 3.—Geology and Minerology. 

D. H. Williams, Esq. Dr. Js. Dodd. 
Captain A. Broome. 

Secretary—J. W. Laidlay, Esq. 


Section 4.—WMeteorology and Physics. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes. Rev. Mr. Pratt. 
J. W. Grant, Esq. 

Secretary—Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy. 


SECTION 5.—Geography and Indian Statistics. 
G. A. Bushby, Esq. 5. G. T. Heatley, Esq. 
Dr. Duncan Stewart. — Baboo Hurreemohun Sen. 
Secretary—S. G. T. Heatley, Esq. 


The foregoing list having been approved of, Captain Broome express- 
ed his desire to leave the nomination of the Section of Numismatics 
and Architectural Antiquities to the consideration of the Committee of 
Papers. 

Some typographical amendments having been suggested and agreed 
to, and various remarks made, leading however to no distinct resolution, 
the Report, with the additions above noted, was unanimously adopted. 

W. B. O'SHAUGHNESSY, 
Senior Secretary. 
Asiatie Society, 11th February, 1847. 


* Captain Latter having left Calcutta, is not included in this list.—Secs. 


106 Report. 


[JAN. 


Statement of Disbursements on Account of Ortental Publications, 


from 1842 to 1846. 


July 30th, 1842. Paid Maulavi Abdullah 
for 90 copies of Fatawe eisai @ 


10) dks. pervol, .. +e, DOC. JO, iO) 
Stitching ditto @ 4 annas ditto... ; By Oe se aaa 
922 
Dec. 19th, paid Maulavi Abdullah for 90 
copies of ditto; vol. IT. . Pe OO 1 ae 
Stitching ditto ditto, .. sie LE ZDE POPES 
———————_ 922 
Ditto ditto paid Rev. J. Thomas for printing Index to 
the Mahabharata, .. 2,002 
Jan. 3d, paid Pandit for corr ecting the proof sheet of 
Mahabharata, a 16 
March 8th, paid Yusuf Ali for conying De- 
wan Sherif in Persian, 38 19 0 0O 
Ditto “Share Gulestan,”’ 6 sections, je 2 0 0 
21 


April 2d, paid Munshi for copying Jawahar ul Quran 
in Persian, 19 sections, of 8 leaves to a section @ 3 


sections per Rupee, .. 6 
Nov. 8th, paid Assistant Manulavi’s ‘salary for Sept. and 

Oct. 1842, oo. 18 
Dec. 12th, paid ditto ditto ditto for Nov. 1842, ™ 10 
Jan. 13th, 1843. Paid Shafatullah for FePeRe Tawa- 

rikh i } ’ Nadiri, per bill for Dec. 1842, 10 


Sept. 21st, paid Maulavi Abdullah for print- 
ing 90 copies of Fatawe Alamgiri, vol. 


TIL. (@ V0 Tes: ‘per vol.) aie ooh OO oO 'RO 
Stitching ditto @ 4 annas per ditto, yb 29220840 
922 8 0 

Paid in part, 600 

Oct. 20th, paid ditto ditto, . in full, 322 
April 5th, paid Shafatullah, Assistant Maulavi, for co- 

ying and correcting Persian works for March, 1843, 10 

May 5th, paid Munshi “Shafitullah for co- 

pying Persian books, ih a Dy OD 
Paper for the same, = 1° 307 8 


10 


Nov. paid Munshi for copying 45 juz of Tafsir Ali Ibn 
Hasan Zauwari for the month of Oct. 1843, ace 30 

Jan. 9th, 1844. Paid Helal Uddin for copying a Persian 
bookgn~ 3. 

March 8th, paid Haji Farhat Iusain for copying an Ara- 
bie work, Kholasatul ia ed 52 es @ 23 per 


Sn oe ow Bier 


Tipe, i: 20 12 


cc) own WwW 


1847.] Report. 


Mareb 8th, paid Helal Uddin for copying a Persian book, 

June 5th, paid ditto for copying a Persian book, 

Ditto, paid ditto for copying a Plan of the Town of Amra- 
watti and a Sketch of Deepauldenna Amrawatti, 

Jan. 9th, 1845. Paid for 1 ream printing paper for Ista- 
lahat Sifia, 

Jan. 9th, paid Hafiz Ahmad Kabir for printing 500 co- 
pies of Istalahat Sufia, 

March 5th, paid Munshi Hell Uddin for copying 32 
pages of Kitéb Umda Darfane Jarahat, @ 9 pages 
per Rupee, . 

August 8th, paid Nacoo Painter for painting a Map ‘of 
Assam, &c. per Bill, .. 

Ditto, paid Helal Uddin for copyi ing an Arabie work 
* Kitab Umda,” : 

Sept. 5th, paid H. M. Smith for printing 750 copies co- 
loured of the Nurbudda River, 

Noy. 6th, paid for copying T awarikh Dost Muhammad, 
with paper, 

Dec. 30th, paid Mauluyi Aménatullah for a printed copy 
of Burhan Qéate, compiled by Ibn Khalafut Tabrezi 
Muhammad Husain, 

Ditto, paid extra Munshi for copying the following works : 
—a copy of Pusto Dictionary, by Najibullah Khan, 
a Gulestén in the same language, by Mir Muhammad 
Peshawari, and a poetical Urdu translation of 
Shaikh Fariduddin’s letters, Pandanamah made by 
Maanuddin Tabrezi, .. nee A: it, 

March 6th to April 21st, 1846. Paid Hafiz Ahmad Ka- 
bir for printing 500 copies of the Tawarikh i Nadiri 
(History of Nadir Shah) 386 pages @ 2-8 per page. . 

July 14th, paid Persian writer for copymg the Arabic 
book Naharul Fieq Shareh Kanzud Daqaak for June 
last, 

August, paid ditto for translating an Arabic work, 

Sept. llth, paid Maulavi Qurban Ali for copying the 
Arabie work Naharul Faeq Shareh Kanzud Daqdak 
for August. . 

Nov. 24th, paid Maulavi Qurbs in Alt for copy ing the Ara- 
bie work Naharul Faeq Shareh Kanzud _Dagiak f for 
Oct. 1846,. ; 

Dec. 4th, paid ditto ditto ditto for Nov. 

Dec. 18th, paid Rev. A. W. Street, Bursar, Bishop’ s Col- 


lege, for press work and paper of 9 pp. 500 copies of 


Extra Title and Preface to Abdur Razaq’s Dictionary 
of Technical terms, by Dr. Sprenger @ 3-4 per 
pase, 


Co.’s Rs. 


9 0 

3 0 
12 0 
20 0 
210 O 
a 
44 6 
oer & 
136 4 
ie 
fev 
35 «(0 
965 0 
& 6@ 
10 0 
3.0 

6 0 

4 0 
29 4 


6,463 1 


D/ 


el 


107 


an) 


on) 


or. © 


a) 


0 


6 


108 Report. 


| JAN. 


Statement of Disbursements on Account Purchase of Oriental 


Publications from 1842 to 1846. 


August 8th, 1842. Paid Thacker and Co., for 5 copies 
of Alif Lailah, vol. 4th, big 

June 25th, 1844. Paid Bhabanicharan Bénayj for sundry 
books per bill, 

August 9th, 1845. Paid ditto ditto ditto per ditto, 

Nov. 18th, paid Maulavi Masihuddin for books, 

March 5th, paid Dr. Roer for Sprenger’s Elements of Hin- 
du Law, Vol. II. 8 Rs. ; Crawford’s pastony of the 
Indian Archipelago, Vol. I. 5 Rs. ‘ 

Oct. 4th, paid Dr. Roer for sundry books per vouchers, 

Dec. 30th, paid Maulavi Badiruddin for a printed copy 
of Sarfe Urdu, by Maulavi Amanatullah, in Hin- 
dustani Poetry, : 

Feb. 4th, 1846. Paid James Francis Corcoran for 35 co- 
pies of the 1st part of the Urdu Translation of Aisop’s 
Pables, :.... 

March, paid Bhaba nicharan Banayj for sundry Bengéli 
books, per bill, i 

April 6th, paid ditto for a copy of Bhigabat Gité, 

June 12th, paid Rev. J. Thomas for 30 copies of Dr. Wise’s 
Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine, 
Noy. 24th, paid Ostell and —— for a cer of Forbes’ 

Hindu Manual, : 


Co.’s Rs. 


60. «0.0 
81. .3. 0 
a 10 0 
23, 8-0 
LS 0) 
84 8 0 
25:0. 9 
70.0 -0: 
12 9 0 
2 8 O 
300 0 0 
412 0 
657 10 0 


SEcRETARY’s Notr.—Of the account thus furnished the following items 


seem to be irregularly charged to the Oriental grant. 


Mr. Smith’s Bill for map of Nurbudda river, 
Crawford’s history of Indian Archipelago, 


Cos Rs. 141 4 0 


1847.] Report. 


109 


Statement of Contingent Charges on Account of Oriental Publi- 


cations from 1842 to 1846. 


Feb. 2d, 1842. Paid Daftari for binding Oriental books, Rs. 

July 2d, paid Mackenzie, Lyall and “Co. fOr advertizing 
Notice to the Purchasers of Mahabharata, 

August 16th, paid Bengal Hurkaru ditto, 

Ditto, paid Englishman’ ditto, 

Ditto, paid for. Bengal Ink, ng 

Nov. 8th, paid charges for dispatching Index to the Ma- 
habharata to the Hon’ble the Court of Directors and 
Monsieur Jules Mohl, a7 

March 7th, 1843. Paid for a tin box for 13 volumes of 
Oriental works sent to the Pasha of Egypt, 

- Ditto, paid for 1 quire of Balasore paper, . 

May 5th, paid for binding books, .. 

May 12th, paid Allan, Patton and Co., for Bills on Mer 
don, on Messrs. Gladstone, Kerr and Co., in favor of 
J. Reynolds, Secretary Griesial Translation Fund, a 
subscription of the pocisty for 1842-43, £10 10s - 
annum, £21 @ 1-11 2 per Rupee,* ; 

July 10th, paid for binding Oriental works, 

August 5th, paid for 5 tin and 5 wooden boxes for the 
eeoial Publications, : 

Sept. 6th, paid for binding Oriental books, 

Ditto, paid for Balasore paper, é 

Oct. 11th, paid for Balasore paper 1, Binding book 1; 

Noy. 34d, paid for binding books, .. 

Jan. 9th, 1844. Paid for Black and Red Ink for copying 
Nagari work, . 

May 11th, paid for binding Oriental books, 

April 5th, 1845. Paid for paper for copying Sanskrit,. 

May 7th, paid S. Martin for binding Persian books, 

July 4th, paid Daftari for binding nookes 

August oth, paid ditto ditto, 

March, 1846. Paid ditto for binding a book—Life of Rém- 
mohan Ray, 

Ditto paid ditto sundry Oriental works, 

Ditto paid ditto ditto ditto, 

Sept. 11th, paid ditto for binding books, 


Co.’s Rs. 


* This item is irregularly charged to the Oriental grant.—Secs. 


30 


© = bo NI 


561 


aSoce wo 
a) 


Loh onooK SoS nNnocre& ao 
an aa) aia a) aan an @Q 


15 


— 
_ 


110 Report. 


[Jan, 


Orienial Publications, &c. sold from the \st of January to the 


31st of December, 1846. 


Tibetan WiewoMirys Pecan, sys en eee sae Rs. 

Mahabharata, 18 vols. -........ 

Index to ditto, 32 vols. . 

Harivansa, 10 copies, 

Naishada, 7 copies, .... 

Rajatarangini, 3 copies. : 

Stisruta, vols. I. and II. 4 copies each, 

Sanskrita Catalogue, 3 copies. . 

Lassen’s Gita Gov india, Copy... te 

Fatawe Alamgiri, vol. I. 2 copies, ‘vol. IL. 2 do. vol. II. 
3 do., vol. IV. Sudo spvol W Po do.syel, Ves dost ©... 

Jawame Thm Riazi, Lycopy,/.. 24% coe gee eee 

Khazanat ul Ilm, 4 copies, ....... 

Tawarikh i Nadiri, 5 copies, Baraat oko 

Persian ‘Catalogue, 3 copies, «2G Aaa GS 

Histoire des Rois du Kachmir, 1 cory 

Travels of Ibn Batuta, ] copy. : 

Essai sur le Pali, 1 copy,. 

Leech’s Grammar and Vocabulary ‘of the Beloochi and 
Punjabi Languages, 1 copy,..... o GO Bd ae 

Edgeworth’s Kashmiri Grammar, 1 copy, aoa oe 

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 84 Nos. ; “6 at 
Rs. 2, and the rest at Rs. 1-8,. 

Asiatic Researches, vol. XIX. part II. 2 copies, vol. XX. 
part I. 2 copies, a3 : 


Total Co.’s Rs. 


838 


—) S ic) Si SO 1S-S S Senco qoc 


am) 


eooo oo oC Oo 


—) S =, oo ooo o © 


S 


Abstract of the number of books received into the Library, 


during the year 1846. 


Works. Vols. & Nos. 


PSNR 2 8 Sok wt eee 81 
re ees orcs Uehara ke ee ee ee 16 
Mati AE 10 20S RS FE) ORT Cra ie 6 
Gert 3 PE et La Sih Sak A ig 28 
TNR C RTOS ys gece eh eee en: ee men 16 
Pameeratas: 22 ta ok ie a is, Ree PS 8 
Breen, Mee 8, eee Oe es ee 3 
Fis lg) op pgm te SRS MOA ea. yee Pg Sak 1 
Pere, RS Rs ee SNe neta Take ] 
Uransr r=... 2 
Hindui, l 


Total 164 


389 
33 
39 
56 
o4 
o2 

5 
l 
I 
ob 


668 


1847.] Report. 111 


Oriental Publications in store at the close of the year 1846. 


Mahébharata, vol. I. 177 copies, vol. II. 193 do., vol. III. 219 do., 
vol. LV. 245 do. 

Index to Mahabharata, vol. I. 297 copies, vol. II. 299 copies, vol. 
III. 305 do., vol. IV. 280 do. 


Copies. 

ES rss |S. eee eae 428 
NIE ak on cs oss < Sw he See We MR a a cael 9) oe 257 
Naishada, ...... ie bie ee a 156 
Stsruta, vol. I. 235, wale aaa 281.- 
Fatawe Alamgiri, vol. 1. 68 copies, vol. IT. 77 do., vol. III. 

86 do., ao TV. 39 do., vol. V. 77 do., vol. VI. 89 do. 
Enéya, vol. II. 21 copies, vol. III. 13 do., vol. IV. 15 do. 
IEEE ELISIe sO cen Se ee Pe oe ane Baas 361 
GTEC FSS So ee ant 
Pee husiarrahin, 9yce5 WS. sie eS ecclce ek wt ee ee sein 293 
Memeenth Eshatty re Paes 6 Sie Ho ea nah [ate ts veg ore Se wala a 309 
IN ATER a ach te! J a 5 Ce ae cite ee ss 211 
Tibetan Dictionary, . 191 
Points in the History of the Greek and Indo- Scythian 

Kage... 15 
Leech’s Grammar ‘and “Vocabulary ‘of the Beloochi and 

RP URLCS. 1 la ahs ves e eee tees 
Vocabulary of the Scinde Spee. nyeede delay shetty. eisuerabels 
Istalahat Stifia,........ Sepia sc se wa, Ct otk 
Tawarikh i Nadiri, ..... A472 
Asiatic Researches, vol. re 5 copies, si) EE 2 do. a 

Ill. 3 do., vol. VI. 50 do., vol. VII. 111 do., vol. VIII. 

43 do., ca: IX. 101 do., var X. 53 do., vol. XI, 96 do., 

vol. XII. 33 do., vol. XIII. 39 do. vol. XIV. 57 do. 

wor XV. 52 do., vol. XVI. 84.do.; vol. XVII. 205 do., 

vol. XVIII. 42 do., vol. XVIII. part Ist, 61 do., vol. 

XVIII. part 2nd, 155 do., vol. XTX. 222 do., vol. XIX. 

part Ist, 19 do., vol. XIX. part 2nd, 90 do., vol. XX. 

217 do., vol. XX. part Ist, 11 do., vol. XX. part 2nd, 

RMIT i Ban) oe refers ele chee cdlats Gra cietare oo wd 122 
Pemeeera Catalogue, ........0000% PR creak eS este clipe 230 
IRTP Nt Slee ee ok, Ge ent SUN cuet aie aceca's ve wt 220 


English ditto. 


112 Report. [JAn. 


Statement of the Amounts received by the Sale of Oriental Pub- 


lications. 

Sale of Oriental Publications in 1842, ..cccececccece 829 8 
Ditto Ditto 1845; Se sak wee te) ee 
Ditto Ditto 1844, Se eee eee ae fe) Peer 
Ditto Ditto isan tc ene 1,047 10 
Ditto Ditto Donors 2 2, pce Oe lif 7 


Co.’s Rs. 3,775 6 
Average per year Co.s Rs. 755 0 


wHNowcoeo 


0 
0 


Statement showing the monthly income of the Asiatic Society, from 


Members, Subscribers to the Journal, and sale of Publications. 


136 Members. 
83 Members paid for 3d Qr. of 1846 at 64 per Annum, 5,248 


LOXS Ditto. Mew) os 2 aren ne ec cis eee meetin arena 640 
29 °® Ditto. who have not. paid, ...... sce: .cs-<-), sel oe ele 1,920 
7,808 


14 Ditto who will probably not pay. 


132 
61 Subscribers to the Journal at 16 Rs. per Annum, 976 
40 Copies for the Hon’ble Company. .......... 640 
— 1,616 


9,424 
Average receipts by sale of Publications,.......... 755 


(Swe a 


Co.’s Rs. 10,179 


Probable monthly income,.............. Co.’s Rs. 848 
E. E. 


113 


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114 


Report. 


LIST OF SUBSCRIBING MEMBERS. 


Anderson, Major W. 
Avdall, J. Esq. 
Batten, J. H. Esq. 
Baker, Capt. W. E. 
Beaufort, F. L. Esq. 
Briggs, Lieut. D. 


Birch, Lieut.-Col. R. J. H. 


Birch, Major F. W. 
Bogle, Major A. 
Brandreth, J. E. L. Esq. 
Buckland, C. T. Esq. 
Burton, Lieut. C. E. 
Blagrave, Lieut. T. C. 
Barlow, R. Esq. 
Bushby, G. A. Esq. 
Bowring, L. R. Esq. 
Borrodaile, J. Esq. 
Benson, Lieut. Col. R. 
Benson, W. H. Esq. 
Boyes, Capt. W. E. 
Broome, Capt. A. 
Cheape, G. C. Esq. 
Corbyn, F. Esq. 

Cust, R. N. Esq. 
Campbell, A. Esq. 
Colvin, J. R. Esq. 
Cameron, Hon’ble C. H. 
Cautley, Capt. P. S. 
Colvin, B. J. Esq. 
Christopher, A. Esq. 
Connoyloll Tagore, Baboo. 
Colville, J. Esq. 
Dunlop, A. C. Esq. 
Durand, Capt. H. M. 
Davidson, T. R. Esq. 
Dodd, J. Esq. 

Elhott, W. Esq. 

Earle, W. Esq. 

Furlong, J. Esq. 

Forbes, Lieut.-Col. W. N. 


| Fnth, R. W. G. Esq. 


Grant, Sir J. P. 

Grant, J. W. Esq. 
Grant, W. P. Esq. 
Gilmore, A. Esq. 
Gladstone, M. Esq. 
Goodwyn, Major H. 
Grey, W. Esq. 
Hardinge, C. 8. Esq. 
Hodgson, B. H. Esq. 
Hannay, Capt. T. S. 
Hays, Capt. Fletcher. 
Hopkinson, Capt. H. 

| Hodgson, Major Genl, J. A. 
| Hay, Lord Arthur. 
Henry, W. Dr. 
Heeberlin, J. Dr. 

Hill, G. Esq. 

Heatly, 8, G. T. Esq. 
Houstoun, R. Esq. 
Hume, J. Esq. 

Hough, H. T. Esq. _ 
Huffnagle, C. Esq. 
Jameson, W. Esq. 
Jenkins, Major F. 
Jerdon, T. C. Esq. 
Jackson, W. B. Esq. 
Karr, W. Seton, Esq. 
Kittoe, Capt. M. 
Knighton, W. Esq. 
Latter, Lieut. T. 
Lushington, E. H. Esq. 
Lushington, G. T. Esq. 
Loch, G. Esq. 

Laidley, J. W. Esq. 
Lawrence, Major H. M. 
McLeod, Major W. C. 
Mill, J. B. Esq. 
Middleton, J. Esq. 
Maddock, Sir T. H. 


[ JAN. 


1847. ] Report. 115 


Marshall, Major G. T. Spilsbury, G. G. Esq. 
McQueen, Rev. J. Strachey, Lieut. R. 
MeKilligan, J. P. Esq. Sleeman, Lieut.-Col. W. H. 
Mackey, D. E. Esq. Sherwill, Lieut. W. S. 
Manickjee, Rustomjee, Esq. Stephen, Capt. J. G. 
Muir, J. Esq. Stewart, L. C. Esq. M. D. 
McLeod, D. F. Esq. Stewart, Dr. D. 
McKenzie, J. Esq. Strong, F. P. Esq. 
Mitchell, A. Esq. Seton, Sir H. W. 
Montague, —Esq. Stacy, Lieut.-Col. L. R. 
Ouseley, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Sutchurn Ghosal, Rajah. 
O’Shaughnessy, W. B. Esq. M. D. | Shave, J. T. Esq. 
Ommanney, M. C. Esq. Samuells, E. A. Esq. 
Pourcain, J. St. Esq. Tickell, Capt. 8. R. 


Pratt, Rev. Mr. 
Phayre, Capt. A. 
Peel, Sir L. 


Trevor, C. B. Esq. 
Thomason, Honourable J. 
Torrens, J. S. Esq. 


Prinsep, C. R. Esq. Theobald, W. Esq. 
Prosonocoomar Tagore, Baboo. Torrens, H. Esq. 
Ripley, Lieut. T. W. Wilcox, Major R. 
Rawlinson, Major C. H. Wilson, the Rt. Rev. Dr. 
Ravenshaw, E. C. Esq. Withers, Rev. G. U. 
Ryan, E. B. Esq. Willis, J. Esq. 
Romanath Tagore, Baboo. Wattenbach, A. Esq. 
Rajah Radhakant Deb, Bahadoor. | Ward, J. Esq. 
Ramgopaul Ghose, Baboo. Walker, H. Esq. 
Rustumjee Cowasjee, Esq. Wilby, G. R. Esq. 
Smith, Lieut. R. Baird. Young, Dr. 


MemeBers ELEcTED AT THE JANUARY MEETING 1847. 


Dirom, N. M. Esq. Muller, J. Esq. 
Debendernath Tagore, Baboo. Munro, Capt. W. 
Hurreemohun Sen, Baboo. Ouseley, Capt. , 


Jones, R. Esq. 


AssociaTr MEmBeErs.* 


Dr. E. Roer. Dr. McGowan, (China.) 


Rey. J. Long. H. Piddington, Esq. 
E. Blyth, Esq. 


* This class of ordinary members consists of gentlemen who are exempted from 
the payment of subscriptions.—There is also an Honorary class chiefly of highly 


distinguished non-residents and foreigners, a list of whom will be subsequently pub- 
lished. — Secs. 


116 Report. 


LIST OF OFFICE-BEARERS 
For 1847. 


President. 


THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD HARDINGE, G. C. B. 
GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA. 


Vice-Presidents. 


Tue Lorp BisHnor or Caucurta. 
Tue Hon’sre Sir J. P. Granr. 
Tue Hon’sxe Sir H. Seton. 
Lireut.-Cou. Forses. 


Honorary Vice-President. 


H. Torrens, Esa. 


Committee of Papers. 


Rev. Dr. HaBERLIN. W. Grey, Esa. 

G. A. Bususy, Esa. R. W. G. Fritru, Esa. 
W. P. Grant, Esa. J. W. Coxvity, Esa. 
WELBY Jackson, Esa. | AND 


Cart. Broome, H. A. S. G. T. Heatuey, Esa, 


Secretaries. 


Dr. W. B. O’SHAvGHNESSY. 
J. W. Larpuay, Esa. 
Dr. E. Rorr, Co-Secretary, Oriental Department. 


Basu Rasenpra LAt Mittra, Librarian, &c. 
H. Prppineton, Esa. Curator Museum of Geology, Se. 
E. Buytu, Esa. Ditto ditto Zoology, $e. 


Abstract Statement of Account of the Asiatic Society for the year 1842. 
— 


DISBURSEMENTS. 
Musi 
To paid Mr. *plyth’s Salary as Curator @ 250 per month, 3,000 0 0 
» Establishment of Taxidermists, Artists, Carpenters, &e.. 1,591 3 3 
” Contingencies for Museum, 827 12 6 
» Mr, Gomes’ Travelling Taxidermist, through Licut. Tickell 
and Mr. Blyth, oo 
». Rewards to Messrs. Bouchez and Nicholas for ‘Extra work 
in the museum, 200 0 
» Mr. Holquett for Proceeding to Darjesing ; ~.. 195 0 0 
m Onset cases, a 118 0 0 
5,920 15 9 
Liprary. 
To yea Dr. E. Roer’s Salary as Librarian @ 100 per month,.. 1,200 0 0 
Establishment for Oriental works, @ 78 per month, .. 936 0 O 
» Establishment and Contingencies, .. 1,284 13 0 
" Books purchased from Messrs, Thacker and Co., Ostel 
and Lepage, and P. S. D'Rozario and Co. 207 11 O 
», Coins purchased from Mr. Mytton, .. 36 0 
». Freight and Insurance on Books sent to London, 169 2 3 
3,833 10 3 
MisceLLANeEous. 
To paid Messrs. Lyall, Matheson aud Co. of a refund of Mr. G. 
G. McPherson's subscription consequent on his ab- 
sence from Indin, 144 0 0 
» Messrs, Mandy and Co. for it Varnishing an oil painting 
(Landscape), .. 50 0 0 
Sa 194 0 0 
Museum Economie Groxocy. 
To paid Mr, Piddington’s Salary as Joint Curator (from 26th 
February), +. 2,276 12 6 
» Establishment ‘and Contingencies, ws +. 65213 6 
» Mr. J.B. Plumb for Aparatus purchased of him, .. 50 0 0 
» Mr, De Garnier for « pair of Scales, 70 0 0 
— 3,049 10 0 
Museum MINneRALoGy anp Geouoay. 
To paid Contingencies, a 143 2 3 
» One Mineral case, 40 0 0 
» Minerals purchased from Mr Mornay, 120 0 0 
303 2 3 
Secretary's Orrice EstanLisHMeNnt 
To paid Establishment and Contingencies, . . . 1,424 9 6 
JouRNAL. 
To paid the er ele H. Torrens) for ranouraala aunties 
ty him to Members, 2,563 8B O 
» For Copying, Drawing, &c, 58 BOO 
2,622 0 0 
OrtentTat Puncications. 
To paid J. Bennett for Sir A. Burnes’ Drawings, -. 650 0 0 
» Messrs. Ballin and Co. for ditto ditto, : 2145 2 0 
» W. Rushton and Co, for paper for ditto, on 6430 «9 
» Moulavee Abdoolla for 2 volumes of the Futuwa Alumgiri, 1845 0 0 
» Rey. J. Thomas for Printing Index to the Mahabharata,. 2,012 7 9 
7,295 10 6 
Burtpinas. 
To paid in part for additions and repairs to the Society's Premises, a5 3,000 0 0 
27,643 10 3 
By balance in favor of the Secretary, a 1639 al 
Co.'s Rs. 29,272 14 4 


Calcutta, 31st December, 1842. 


¥, 


ASSETS. 
Museum. 
By allowance authorized by the Hon’ble the Court of Directors 
for the services of s Curator @ 250 per month, 
» Ditto for preparation of Specimens @ 50 per month 


Liprary. 

By allowance on account of Establishment for the custody of 
Oriental books tranferred from the Callexele of Fort Wil- 
liam @ 78 per month, 

By Sale proceeds of Books. 

By refund on account of attendance of Assistant Librarian, 


MisceLLaneous. 
By Subscriptions from Members for a Portrait of Sir E. Ryan, 
By Cash of a Interest received from Government Agents on 
Government Securities in their custody, 
By Sale proceeds of the following Government 
Paper, one 5 per cent. paper No. 4852 of 
3209 dated Vth July, {eo; ,for.. Sa. Rs. 5,000 0 0 
Interest thereon from 14th July to 19th Dec. 
1842, ., 1. ri ne . 108 5 4 


Less Discount @ 1 r. 2a. per cent 67 7 7 


Sa. Rs. 5,050 13 9 

Co,’s Rs, 

By Cash of a 6th Dividend from asaurcs to the Estate of 
MelIntosh and Co. an o 


5,387 9 0 
127 9 9 


PuBLicaTIon oF On1ENTAL Works, 
By grant from Government @ 500 per month. , 
Museum Economic Geouooy. 
By allowance from Government for the services of a Joint Cura- 
tor from 26th Feb. @ 250 per month. . . 
CoNTRIBUTIONS AND ADMISSION FREs. 


By receipts from members,.. 
By balance as per 


rendered om the 31st Dec. 1841 


E. E. 


1,78 8 0 


6,723 2 9 


6,000 0 0 


Co.'s Rs. 29,272 14 4 


\ 


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o i ae oo oe 


2 eset att WIR 
" x q . ; deca Mao 
vet ‘ay vas dgaands arcs ats lee 


said ae abel 


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pity ‘a 
sng t 


neaprrot4 


. a , ee tito “we S it tres HL & an % a heat vandal 
| | -ds ei po Yasupaetod noiiae fone aa 


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, f 7 oF w* rt fe 
‘ 2 2 pe cweey il 2) pes 2 epee 5 . a Haast n “| rake 


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ret Rare. 
err 
nt sor (eee J tt) vdeo ada es 


7 i é 
’ diet ot aie yd 
F ’ 2 , : \/ : 
¢ 9 Le “ai & waa =t 4 
: We ; fo 4 
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— : 
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~ wie “ hn 
| i ey i! Paty eee VE | ‘eco A. ¢ vot doe’ «b 
rt os i oa S, . i | - J 
é - 2% j i Aaa 077 hae hAOW Fiction (Teheeca AY ; 
; rs , » * ° 


} | ee eae bo vorplbe 2408 ellonid A satel 


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: fend ; ettie0t ° eT m .o) fae pes tt an 
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ere we x enn wr elite a, to » esroidibhe ae het itt. 


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Abstract Statement of Account of the Asiatic Society for the year 1843. 


a 


DISBURSEMENTS. 


To paid ite *Blyth's Salary as Curator @ 250 per month, .. 
Establishment of Taxidermists, Artists, Carpenters, 
;, W. Ridsdale for printing Osteological Catalogue and re 
marks on the Zoology of the Tenasserim Provinces,.. 
» Contingencies for Muscum,. . 
Value of glass eyes received from Mr. Bartlett of London 
through Mr. Blyth, £15, 18s, ex. @ 1s. 114d. per R. 
,, Signor Apparati for Birds,... 
" Balance of salary and Contingencies for Mr. Trolquet s 
deputation to Darjecling: iy 
» Glass cases, o . . “ 


Lrprary- 
To paid Dr. Roer’s salary as Librarian @ 100 per month, 
Establishment for Oriental work: 
,, Contingencies and Establishment... 
Freight and Insurance on books sent to England, 
Books purchased from Mr. Frith, Messrs. Thacker & 
‘and Ostell and Lepage, 
, Coins purchased from Lieut, A. Cunningham, of Engi- 
neers, bw 
W. Ridsdale for printing Catalogues, oo ory 
,», Marble slab with gold letters, os ve oa 


MisceLtaneovs. 
To Remitted through Messrs. W. H. Allen and Co,, to Mr. 
Reynolds Society’ 4 subseniption on account of Orien- 
tal Translation Fund £21 ex: @ Is. 11§d. per R... 
To paid Mr. Lane 's aby) as sub-' Scereleny @ 200 Re 
month, oe 


Museum Econoastrc Geouocy. 
Topaid Mr. Piddington’s salary as Joint Curator @250 permonth, 
,, Establishment and Contingencies, . aD 
»» W. Ridsdale for printing Circulars, &e.. 


Museum Mineratocy anv Grouocy. 
To Contingencies, . 
Secrerany’s Oprice Estanuisumenr. 
To paid Establishment and Contingencies,.. 
Journat Asiatic Society. 
» Secretary (Mr. Torrens) for Copies supplied to mem- 


bers, “1 ar, Sty 
» Paid for plates, charts, drawings, &e.. . on on 


OntexTan Punuications, ke. 
Te! me for 90 Copies 3d Vol. Futwa Alumgiri, on ot 
Mr. Bennett for Sir A. Burnes’ drawings, ae Ar) 
{) Drawing Paper for Do... = : 


Asratic Society or Panis, 

To paid for copying the Vedus,.. 

To paid for bulance of Account Current due the Society per 
Proceedings of June, 1839, .. 2: 5 


Borioines. 


To paid in full for Repairs and Additions to the Society’s Pre- 
mises,.. 5s Ss ‘ 


s Calcutta, 31st December, 1843, 


3,000 0 

1,288 7 5 

128 8 0 

544 8 0 

161 8 4 

150 0 0 

17214 9 

61110 0 
7,057 8 6 

i} 

0 

4 

0 

0 

179 0 0 

562 12 0 

8013 3 
5,048 4 7 

213 5 5 

600 0 0 
1813 5 5 

3,000 0 0 

939 6 1 

56 8 0 
3,995 13 1 
ae Ai 250 13 0 
1,445 1 9 

1459 8 0 

1449 13 6 
2,909 5 6 

922 8 0 

200 0 0 

225 8 9 
1,348 0 9 

150 0 0 

233 7 9 
383.7 9 
co « 4,571 7 0 
Cos Rs, 28,823 3 3 


ASSETS, 
Museum. 


By allowance authorized by the Hon'ble the Court of eDicestors 


for the services of a Curator @ 250. 
Ditto for preparation of specimens @ 50. 


Lisrary. 


By allowance of Establishment for the Custody of Oriental 
books transferred from the College of Fort Willian @ 
78 per month,. , on On : 

By Sale proceeds of books, 


MisckLLaNgous. 
By refund of Tinport duty on Professor Mill’s bust, 


Musrum Economic GeoLocy. 


Byallowance from Government for the services of a Jomt Cura- 
tor @ 250 per month, 
Ditto for Establishment and Contingencies, 


Pusuicatton ov Orrextan Works. 
By grant from Government @ 500 per month,. 


Conrrisutions ANv ApMission Fens. 
By receipts from members, 


Picture or H. T. Paineee) Esa. 
By subscriptions from Members for a portrait of, 


Astatic Soctery or Pans. 
By Cash received for copying the Vedas, ‘ 


By balance in favor of the Society as per account Current ren- 
dered on the 31st Dec. 1842. . : 


000 0 0 
600 0 0 

——— 3600 0 0 
936 0 0 
696 8 0 

1,632 8 0 

7610 3 
3,000 0 0 
14247 3 

44247 3 

‘ 6,000 0 0 

. 7,604 0 0 

1,195 0 0 

625 0 0 

+. 1,629 4 1 

26,786 13 7 

+» 2,036 5 


By balance due from the Society, 


E. E. 


5. ) 0 te Loci 
gg nt nye ae i 
use Yo Hea Maen 
bw eva a vee 3) sagas oat Cr 


ee Lbuekodit of ayes, aint cdi vod ¥ 
' 4s Bi + iene Ti, Nw si Shel ie Phy ia 


*: Telia a pane 


f nisi a Do axa fg ticett 0D. Ath ae sSooainats arty 
pe. , MR e eer, “B > elias Be yy, 4 
a mes ‘ \ Ns Sean 0 fit j jetty ior aig, 
De Ry a a ei “alte tale 
—: ee rae? | * | Mics "Tah aiileallet i sa 
oO @ ” ! a ie 
. a aM of i he cottA EEO coe 
ri 0. stax) to tevoose 10. notions sxe veeraoie abe 
$e rol bea! | Bet el. $8) xe Vad. Desi hy gota aecy | 
2 ‘Py it) Bass S x RID: et! we én ih te" is t Og ae 
BOL. Ae 


A eer a a, iy Le @ *4 


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¥ f j i a’ i fT In wipes et 
fap * ry t | Ae ? = | To ae 
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vail ORF , PGarsaGSh tel 8, taka) 


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DISBURSEMENTS. 
Museum. 
To paid Mr. Blyth’s salary ns Curator @ 


permonth., .. 3,000 0 0 


» Establishment of Taxidermists, Artists, Carpenters, &c,. 1418 11 0 
*, Contingencies for Museum, we a . 1437 6 9 
» 2 Insect Cases @ ca wooo 0 
» Messrs. Currie and Co., for 1 Teak wood stand, we 3804 ~«0 


Liprary: 
To paid Dr. Roer’s salary as Librarian @ 100 per month, 

»» Assistant Librarians, 
Establishment for Oriental works @ 68 per month, 
Establishment and contingencies for brary. 
}, Freight on books sent to London, &c. 

Books purchased from Messrs, Thacker and Co., and 


602 5 9 


Ostell and Lepage,.. a 
1 2 
MisceLianeous. 
To paid Messrs. Lattey, Brothers and Co., in Pare of a silver 
inkstand, oe . 932 0 0 
» Mr. Piddington as sub-secretary @ @ 200, me 400 0 0 
» Mr. Martin for a monument over the remains of the 
late Mr. Csoma de Koros, per order of A. Campbell, 
Esq,, of Dar} arjeeling, 7 got tO 
»» Bagshaw and Co., refund of Captain Hutton’s contri- 
butions, less subscription to the Journal, ae 30 0 0 
» Freight on a case from Singapore, oe 20 0 
» J. Weaver for marble frames for busts, ke, 1 lll 2 0 
3,625 2 0 
Museum Economic Geotocy. 
To paid Mr. Piddington’s salary ax Joint-Curator @ 250. 0 
» Establishment, 5 0 
» Lattey, Brothers and Co. for a silver cup with cover, tt} 
» Messrs. Ostell and Lepage for sundries, . 0 
» Messrs. Noskey and Co., for ditto, .. “ 6 
» Messrs. Thomson and Co,, for ditto, - 0 
» Mr. Heatly, .. of s ae 0 
» Contingencies, .. ve bn 7 
4,079 2 1 
Museum Miyeratocy anp Geouocy. 
To an Mr. J. Dodd for a Collection of rocks purchased of him, 97 0 0 
Contingencies for 12 months, me, .. aa 218009, 
——_—_— 20 09 
Secretary's Orrice Estanuisument. 
To paid Establishment and Contingencies, on or on . 1,293 10 9 
Jounnar Astatic Sociery. 
To paid for proceeds of Journals sold by Messrs. Allen and Co,, 
of London, and transferred to Society’s Account Cur- 
rent, £42 16 a «© ABI 7) 5 
» For plates, chart: nts, drawings, Ke. or 418 3 3 
» W. Ridsdale (on account) for printing Journals. 236 4 0 
» Ditto ditto ditto, . 360 00 
1,465 14 8 
OntenTAr Puriications. 
To paid Mr. J. Bennett balance on account of Sir A. Burnes’ 
drayvin, a a 
» Ditto for Cantor's | s Chusan “Zoology, | ve + 900 0 0 
18 0 0 
Carnied over, 21848 5 2 


Abstract Statement of Account of the Asiatic Society for the year 1844. 


ASSETS. 
Museum. 
By allowance authorized by the Hon'ble the Court of Directors 
for the services of a Curator for 12 months @ 250 per 


month, 3,000 0 0 
Ditto for preparation of s specimens @50 per month. . » 600 0 0 

Linnary. 
By allowance on account of Establishment for the custody of 

Oriental Books transferred from the College of Fort 

William @ 78 per month, — ae -. 936 0 0 
By sale proceeds of books, ws ot ay +. 1,002 11 3 

MisceLLaneous, 
By subscriptions from members for an inkstand presented to 

the Secretary (Mr. H. Torrens), .. + 932 0 0 
By Cash on account Interest received from Gov: ernment Agents 

on Government Securities in their custody, .. o 


1,037 5 7 


a 


3,600 0 0 


1,938 11 3 


1,969 5 7 
Pustication or Ortenta Works. 
By grant from Government @ 500 per month, 3 40 ee 6,000 0 0 
Mustum Economic Groxocy. 
By allowance from Government for the services of a Joint- 
Curator @ 260 per month, 4a +. 3,000 0 0 
By allowance for Establishment and Contingencies @ 64 per 
month, on on oo + 768 0 0 
3,768 0 0 
ConTRIBUTIONS AND ApMIssION FEEs, 
By receipts from members, as on cs oe » 6950 0 0 
Carried over, 24,226 0 10 


Abstract Statement of Account of the Asiatic 


society for the year 1844. 


RR SS 


Brought over, 348 5 
Asratic Socrety ov Parts. 


nying the Vedas, 


To pnid for c 


Prcrores or Sin E. Ryan anv I. T. Parxsep, Esa. 
and Co., per draft of Sir E. Ryan 


To paid Messrs. Carr, Tay 


and Messrs. I. T, and W. Prinsep @ 10d. S. ” 14213 8 
Burtpincs. 
To paid Mr. Mornay for stopping leaks and sundry petty re- 
pairs,.. Ets i a os 440 0 


23,083 2 10 
To balance due from the Society as per Account Current fur- 


nished on the 31st Dec. 1843, o on B 1. 2036 5 8 


119 8 6 


Cateutta, 31st December, 1844. 


Brought over, 24,226 0 10 


By balance «due from the Society, a on oe o. 


893 7 8 


Abstract Statement of Account of the Asiatic Society for the year 184 


ou 


DISBURSEMENTS. 
Museum. 


To Mr. Blyth’s salary as Curator at 250 per month,.. 
», Establishment of Taxidermists, Artists, laste & 
» Contingencies,.. as 
»» Glass Cases, ‘ 
Charges for a Taxidlermist Sent to Arracan, |, 


Liprary. 


To Dr. E. Roer’s salary as Librarian at 100 per mensem, -« 
» Assistant Librarian ditto, on : 

Establishment for Oriental works,. . 

Establishment and Contingencies,, . 

Books purchased from Messrs. Thacker and Co. Ostell 
and Lepage and P. D’Rozario and Co, &e. 

» J. S, Morton for binding, ot a a 


Museum Economic Geoxocy. 


To Mr. Piddington’s salary as Joint-Curator at 250 per men- 

sem, = a oo ra a 
, Establishment,. on ui on a 
Contingencies... : 


MINERALOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL Museum. 


To Contingencies for, ae oe ee 


OnieNTAL Pustications. 


. Bennett on account Dr. Cantor's Zoology, .- 

» Mrs. Ballin for printing,. . 

» Ditto balance of account for printing Sir | 
Drawings,.. 

» Hafiz Alimed Kubeer for printing 4 Ishilahati, 


Burnes’ 


MisceLianeous. 


To Mr. Piddington’s salary as sub-secretary at 200 per montlhi, 
» Messrs. P. S. D'Rozario and Co. for printing receipts, 
Postage on return parcels and copying @ circular, 
hit on books and parcels, 
», Policy of Insurance on books per Lallah Rookii, 
», Messrs. Colvin, Ainslic Cowie, and Co., for transit charges 
of 5 boxes of Fossils a ented by Captain W. E. 
Bake 
» Messrs. Shearwood and Co., * ., for a Mahogany stand, 
Mr. J. Weaver for a Marble slab with Gold letters to t he 
memory of the late Mr. Csoma de Koros, . - 
Chaunce for winding and’ keeping the Clock in 
order, : 
» Messrs. Lattey, Brothers aod Co., 
Gold Medal, o 
» Mr. J. Bennett for a Maple wood picture frame, = 


» Mr. 


for a silver case 


3,000 
1,666 
901 
475 
30 


806 
1,312 


1,031 
120 


3,000 


2400 
20 


0 
0 


0 
0 


0 
6 


6,072 13 


4,916 10 


3,619 


36 


3 


Museum. 


By allowance authorized by the Hon*ble the Court of Directors 
for the services of a Curator for 12 months at 250 per 
mensem, +. $000 0 0 
By allowance for preparation of specimens ‘for 12 months at 50 
per mensem, BS 600 0 0 
By advance to J. F. Gomes by Captain Phayre, se oo 200 0 
——— _ 3,620 0 0 
Linrary. 
By allowance on account Establishment for the custody of 
Oriental works transferred from the College of Fort 
William for 12 months at ue per ts oe 936 0 0 
By Sule proceeds of Books, 2 5 1,069 4 0 
2,005 ld 0 
Museum Economic Geouocy. 
By allowance from Government for the services of a Joint- 
Curator for 12 months at 250 per month 3,000 0 0 
By allowance for Establishment and Contingencies at 64 per 
month, a. “ -. . « 76s 0 0 
P 768 0 0 
Pusricarion or Onenrat Works, 
By grant from Government for 12 mouths at 500 per month, +. 6,000 0 0 
ConTRisurions AND ApMission Fees. 
By receipt from members during the year, Fe a 7ZM4 0 0 
MisceLLANgous. 
By Cash on account Interest received from Government Agents 
ou Government Securities in their Custody, “ «e a 704 14 5 
Carned over, 5 


25242 12 


Abstract Statement of Account of the Asiatic Society for the year 1845. 


5 Brought ov 
lOURNAL. 
To Mr. H. M. Smith for reducing, drawing and printing By balance due from the Society, .. fe 9 
Maps, &e. a ° - 682 0 0 
» Mr. W. Ridsdale on account of printing, , +, 500 0 
fy Mesr. Sanders and Cones for lithographing and print- } 
on on 127 6 0 
» Mr. ae ‘Hutchinson for ditto, . 73 10 0 \ 
» Messrs. P. S. D'Rozario and Co., for ditto, fo a Et) 
}} Mocheeram for lithographing, 7 78 0 
»» Necoo printer for printing,. « - " . 446 6 
» Mr. J. Hendrie for drawings, 150 0 0 
» Copyists for copying certain eat to be inserted in the 
fournal, ee An = Oo id 
By 19) 
RETARY’S Orrick. 
» Establishment and Contingencies, ws “* ” . 261, 3! 6 
Picrunss or Sir E. Ryan anv H. 'T. Prinser, Esa. 
To Messrs. Carr, Tagore and Co., per Messrs. H. T. and W. 
rinsep's draft at 60 ds. ., 5 ai 7 400 0 0 


Boitpincs. 
To Mr. Mornay for stopping Leaks, .. A ro 


To balance as per account closed on the Slst Dec. 1844... 


Calcutta, 31st December, 1845, 


| 


Abstract Statement of Accounts of the Asiatic Society from January to 31st July, 1846. 


DISBURSEMENTS. 

Museum. 
To paid Mr. Blyth’s salary as Curator nt 250 per month, 
Kstublishment of ‘Taxidermists, Artists, Carpenters, &c. 


1,750 0 0 
M6 0 


» Contingencies, .. - -. an . 3 
” 3.1, lls, for preparing an Elephant Skeleton, a 0 
Lipnary. 

To paid salary of Librarian, —.. 5 0 
» Ditto of Assistant ditto, .. os an a 3 
»» Establishment for the custody of Oriental Works, nh 0 
;, Establishment aud Contingencies, .. a S 8 2 
» Books purchased, 77615 6 


Mossrs. Ostell and Lepage for Gould's Australian Birds, 
in part, 2 cs if 
Messrs. Currie and Co. for selves, in part, 


Freight and postage on books received und despatched 


Museum Economic Grorocy. 
To paid Mr. Piddington’s salary as Joint-Curntor at 250, 
» Establishment, .. rs = & 
» Contingencies, .. os “ as) 


Museum Minenatocy anp Geouocy. 
To paid Contingencies, .. a a o v4 - 


Orrentau Pusiicarions. 
To paid Mrs. Ballin for lithographing Sir A. Burnes’ Draw- 


ings, “s as als bn 522/12) 0) 
» J, Bennett on acct. of Cantor's Zoology, . . +. 400 0 0 
» Difiz Abmeed Kubir, for 500 Copies of the Tawarikh i 
Nadiri, o ss ae oy) 965) (0)10) 
MIsceLLANeous. 
To paid Mr. Piddington’s salary as sub-secretary for 2 months, 
at 200, ne oF 40 + 400 0 0 
» J. Weaver, for n Marble Tablet with Goll Letters, and 
repolishing the Tablet of Professor Mill, 5 6 0 
» Ditto ditto for Marble slabs, in part, ae ve 0 0 
» J, Chaunce, for repairing and’ keeping the Clock in order, 00 
> Lachman Singh for Drawings, a e es 00 
» Mr. Garnier for fixing Models of Bridges, .. Ac 0 0 
y» Bank of Bengal on account discount on Bills for Govern- 
ment allowances, ve a9 < ve 45 11 4 
JOURNAL. 

To paid copying portions of Hajbul Azam in Persian, co 400 
» Messrs, Sanders and Cones for printing, 66 0 0 
» Mr. H. M. Smith for drawings, o- on - 115 0 0 
» Mr. J. Hendrie for HieKorranttee on 1“ 81 8 0 
» Rey. J. Thomas for printing proceedings, || ut ahy fh) 

Secnerary’s Orrice Esra niisuMenr. 

To paid Establishment and Contingencies, oO a 66915 0 

2» Messrs, D’Rozario and Co. for blank receipts, ae 15 0 0 


Carried over, 


3AM 15 


4,025 3 


2,010 7 
45 8 
1,887 12 
616 1 
381 4 
684 15 


13,123 2 


3 


0 


RECEIPTS, 
Museum. 
By allowance authorized by the Hon'ble the Court of Directors 
he Services of & Curator from Dec. 1845 to Junc last, 


per month, 


at u o + we -. 1750 0 0 
By ditto ditto for preparstion of specimens for ditto at 50 per 


month, ‘ ae as « 350 0 0 
Linnany. 
By allowance for Establishment for the custody of Oriental 
Works, transferred from the College of Fort William, 
from Dec. 1845 to June last, at 78 per month, H46 0 0 
By sale proceeds of Books, ., ot . 6730 9 


Museum Economic Grouooy. 
By allowance from Government for the services of n Joint- 
_ Curntor from Dee. 1845 to June last, at 250 permonth, 1,750 0 0 
By ditto for Establishment and Gontingencies from ditto to 


ditto at G4 per month, ., an on + 448 0 0 
Puntication oF Ortenran Wonks. 
By Grant from Government for the publication of Oriental 
Works, &e. from Dee. 1845 to June last, at 500 per 
month, on oo oo . oe ot ot 
Coxrainprions AND ADMisston Fees. 
By receipts from Members, on on =. oy o 
MisceLuaNgous. 
By Cash received from Government Agents on acet. of Tnterest 
on Goyernment Securities in thei custody up to doth 
Apnil list, .. re ob oO ety ee: + 


Camied over, 


2,100 0 


1,219 0 


2,198 0 


43,500 0 


ASLO 


Add Lh 


Abstract Statement of Accounts of the Asiatic Society from January to 31st July, 1846. 


Brought over, 


Boriprxcs- 
‘To paid Mr. S. Mornay for repairs to the stairs of the Society's 
premises, .. + 00 & 


‘To Balance due from the Society as per necount elosed on the 
Slst Dee, 1845, 


To balance in favor of the Society, —-. a0 


The 31st July, 1846. 


To paid Mr. Piddington’s salary, Establishment and Contin- 
neies for Museum Economie Geology for July last, 
Establishment and Contingencies for 


y last, . 
» Secy.’s Office Establishment and Contingencies for ditto, 
Baboo Rajkrishna Mitter’s salary, Establishment and 
Contingencies for Library for ditto, oe a 
Miscellancous charges during July last, Bn 


13,344 15 


Co.'s Rs. 


Mr. Piddington’s salary, Establishment and Contingen- 
cies for Museum Economic Geology and Mineralo; 
for August, 

Mr. Blyth's sulary, Establishment ant Contingencies for 

Museum for August last, 

Scey.’s Office Establishment and Contingencies for ditto, 

Buboo Rajkrishna Mitter's salary, Establishment and Con- 
tingencies for Library for ditto, 

Miscellaneous charges, ineluding Mrs. Balls, H 1M, Smith 
and J, Weaver's Bills, &e, ; ; aR 


Mr. Piddington’s salary, Establishment, and Contingen- 
cies for Museum Economic Geology, &e, for Sept. 


's ditto ditto ditto for Muscum for ditto, 

's Office Establishment and Contingencies for ditto, 

Baboo Rajkrishna Mitter’s ditto ditto ditto for ditto, 
including purchase of Books, .. 

» Miscellaneous charges, including Mr. H. T. Prinsep’s Pic- 
ture and Cantor's Zoology, « 


To Balance in favor of the Society, -. co ie 


The 31st October, 1846, 


293 

490 10 6 
ov 2510 
263.10 0 
612 10 0 
301 6 6 
4944 6 
6 0 0 
688 1d 3 
S19 11 8 


13,12 


13,210 


134 12 


1,099 14 
144d4 14 


1,210 7 


1,651 3 


By Government all 


i ty balance per account closed on the 31st July last, 
vance for July last, 


Brought over, 


1192 00 
208 0 0 


By contributions rev d from Members, .. on 
By Government allowance for August Inst, «+ os ee Loa Om 0 
By Contributions received from Members, &e. «+ 00 
Ty Government allowance for Sept. last (less College Establish- 

ment,) +. L114 0 0 
By Contributions: and admission fees received from Members, 1,392 0 0 
By Sale proceeds of Oriental Works, on . - co 0 0 


A 

M444 4 1 
1,099 14 10 
1,400 0 0 


1,291 0 0 


2,566 0 0 


6,356 14 10 


Abstract Annual Account of the Asiatic Society from 1842 to 1846. 
OO 


DISBURSEMENTS. 
Museum. 


To Paid Curntor’s Salary, Establishment and sundry expenses 


during the year 1812, as per Abstract Statement,.... 9 
» Ditto ditto during the year 1843 atte, o as 6 
» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, .. on A 9 
» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, .. : s ne 3 
», Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, .. ae ‘7 ee 6 
31,379 4 9 
Linrany. 
To paid Librarian and Assistant Librarian's Salary, Establish- 
ment and sundry expenses, during the year 1842, as 
per Abstract Statement, on 3a 
» Ditto ditto during the year 1843 ditto, a .. 7 
» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, .. . os on 2 
» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, .. C on oe 4 0 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, ., an ae ». 5,942 11 6 
23,966 5 6 
MisceLianeous. 
To paid sundry expenses during the year 1842, as per Abstract 
Statement, .. “ on any ory 
» Ditto ditto 1843 ditto, . ee . 
» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, a O04 24 
»» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, ’ ee 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, AC .. 
9,674 3 3 


Museum Economic Geouocy. 


To paid Jomt-Curator’s Salary, Establishment and sundry ex- 
penses during the year 1842, as per Abstract State- 


ment, ct) Eo ao a 
»» Ditto ditto 1843 ditto, + o. 1 
» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, An a oo oo 
» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, “ on . 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, .. on - 


83 
Museum Mingrarocy AnD GroLocy. 
To paid sundry expenses psoas the year 1S42, as ies Abstract 
Statement, : an -. 303 2 3 
»» Ditto ditto 1843 ditto, ra ce 2. 25013 o 
»» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, Ao On pee 2.009) 
»» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, .. ve . 363 «6 
» Ditto ditto 1346 ditto, .. oo oa 67 14 oO 
— 863 1 6 
Secrerary’s Orvice Estasuisumenr. 
To paid Establishment and Contingencies during the year 1842, 
fs per Abstract Statement, te +, 1424 9 6 
» Ditto ditto 1843 ditto, ., + 1445 1 9 
»» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, a -. 1298 lo 9 
»» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, .. a 1,261 3 6 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, .. a «. 1,184 10 3 
os 6614 3 9 
JOURNAL. 
To paid sundry expenses during the year 1842, as por Abstract 
Statement, oe +. . ies ° 
» Ditto ditto 1843 ditto, .. +. . . 5 
s» Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, ., an . 8 
» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, a : oA 9 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, .. oy oe . 0 
15,396 7 10 
Carried over, 1 210 


Museum. 

By allowance: 
Court o 

tor nt 250 Rs. per month 

as per Abstract Statement, 


Ditto for the preparation] of specimens ‘Uitto at 50 


ditto, 


Ditto ditto for the year 1843 ditto, 


Ditto ditto ditto 1844 ditto, 
Ditto ditto ditto 1845 ditto, 
Ditto ditto ditto 1846 ditto, 


By advance to J. F, Gomes by Captain Phayre in 1845, «. 


Linrary. 


RECEIPTS AND ASSETS. 


authorized by the Honourable the 
Directors for the services of 1 Curn- 


for the year 1842 


3,000 0 0 


+ 600 00 


By allowance on account of Establishment for the 
custody of Oriental Books transferred from 
the College of Fort William at 78 per month 


for the year 1842 as per Abstract Statement, 


Ditto ditto ditto 1843, 
Ditto ditto ditto 1844, 
Ditto ditto ditto 1845, 


Ditto ditto from Dee. 1845 to Aug. 1846, 


AAaG 


By sale proceeds of books for the year 1842 as 


per Abstract Statement, 
Ditto ditto ditto for 1843 ditto, 
Ditto ditto ditto for 1844 ditto, 
Ditto ditto ditto for 1845 ditto, 
Ditto ditto ditto for 1846 ditto, 


4,100 


By refund on account of attendence of Assistant Librarian as 


per Abstract account for the year 1842, ‘ae we 


Miscevyaneous. 
By subseription from Members 


per Abstract account for the year 1842, 


By Cash account 6th Dividend 
Mackintosh and Co., 


20 


for a portrait of Sir E. Ryan as 


from Assignee to the Estate of 


By refund of Import duty on Professor Mill's Bust for 1843 us 


per Abstract Statement, 


By subscription from Members for an ‘inkstand presented to the 
Secretary (Mr. H, Torrens) as per Abstract Statement for 


the year 1844, 


By Interest received from Government Agents 


interest on Government Securities in their 
custody as per Abstract Statement for the 


year 1842, ef 
Ditto ditto 1844, on 
Ditto ditto 1845, ay 


Ditto ditto 1846, ae 


Company's Paper. 


cocoo 


oo 


2,735 12 


By sale proceeds of a 5 per Cent, Paper No, 4852 


of 3209 dated 14th July 


5000 as per Abstract Statement for 1842, .. 


Ditto a 5 per Cent, ditto No, 1576 of 1829 & 30 


for Sicca Rs. 1,500 per ditto 1846, oF 


-. 300 0 0 
«e 1,087. 5 7, 
. 704d 5 
693 8 0 
1827 for Sa. Rs, 
5,387 9 0 
1,605 10 6 


Carried over, 


cooco 


oo 


18,020 0 0 


S866 


0 


Abstract Annual Account of the Asiatie Society from 1842 to 1846. 


nnn iE 


Brought over, 106,771 2 10 

Ontentat Puniicarions, including the “ Burnes and Cantor Drawings.” 
To paid sundry expenses during the year 1942, as per Abstract 
Statement, 


» Ditto ditto 1843 ditto, .. as 55 
3, Ditto ditto 1844 ditto, .. a zs 
» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, oe on “ 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, op on o 


Burvprncs. 


To paid in part for additions and sundry repairs done to the 
Society’s premises during the year 1942, as per Ab- 


stract Statement, ec co ” +. 3,000 0 0 
» Ditto in full 1843 ditto ditto, ue +. 4671 7 0 
» Ditto 1844 ditto ditto, ae ri Ay 4400 
yy Ditto 1845 ditto ditto, 5 1 o on 320 0 
» Ditto 1846 ditto ditto, oo - on + 112 00 
7759 7 0 
Asiatic Society or Panis. 
To paid for copying the Vedas and sundry expenses during the 
year 1343, as per Abstract Statement, .. ce if 
» Ditto 1844 ditto ditto, oe. oe ‘ 50 0 0 
——_ 433 7 9 
Prorures or Sin E, Ryan ann H. T. Priyser, Esa. 
To paid Messrs. Carr, Tagore and Co., per draft of Sir E. Ryan 
and Messrs. H. 'T. and W. Prinsep, as per Abstract 
Statement for the year 1844, + + 114213 8 
» Ditto ditto 1845 ditto, .. on Cl 400 0 0 
» Ditto ditto 1846 ditto, .. a « 61411 8 
2,157 9 4 


Prcrune or Hox’nue W. W. Biro, Esa, 
To paid F. R. Neilson, Agent, Agraand W. S. Bank, per W. II. 
Allan and Co.'s draft at 30 ds, st. for, +. 1,368 8 9 
SN 


; soon hi 131847 4 11 

Balance in favor of the Asiatic Society, .. oe On oe 1,997 9 7 
(Arranged from Mr. Bolst's abstracts) 

S44 14 6 


Calcutta, Asiatic Society, Signed. . M. MULLER. 
the dlst Decenber, 1846," } ee) zone % 
N, B. Balance as per Cash account on the 31st Dee. 1846, a + 2,230 0 G 

Balance as above ditto, ne a bi £6 esi 1097.97) 
Difference, Co.’s Rs. 292 6 11 


This difference arises from the difference between Mr. Bolst’s account, closed 3st July, 1846, 
and Balance of cash on that day, which will be examined and corrected hereafter, 


OS —— 


Brought over, 26886 0 6 


Ditto ditto No. 1421 of 1 & 30 ditto 2,500 ns 


per Abstract Statement for 1846, «. 2,693 5 0 
Ditto ditto No. 3743 of 120 of 1841 & 42 for 
Co.'s Rs. 5,000 per ditto, - « 511610 8 


14,803 3 2 


Museum Economic Georocy. 19,583 3 2 
By allowance from Government for the services of a Joint-Cura- 
tor from 26th Feb. at 250 per month as per Abstract State- 
ment for 1842, os . 
By allowance from Government for the services 
of a Joint-Curntor for 12 months at 250 Rs, 
per mensem as per Abstract Statement for 


2,276) 12' 6 


the year 1843, a a. .. 3,000 0 0 
Ditto ditto for Establishment and Contingencies 

ditto as per Abstract Statement forthe year 

1843, oo oo «. 1424 7) 3 


v- 
is 
ae 


By allowances for Establishment and Contingencies as per Ab= 


stract Statement for the year 1844, Cn » 3768 0 0 
Ditto ditto ditto 1845 ditto, we - 7 00 
Ditto ditto ditto 1846 ditto, “ on o 
18,005 3 9 
Puntication oy Ortenrar Works. 
By grant from Government at 500 Rs, per month as per Ab- 
stract Statement for 1342, on on on a) 
Ditto ditto ditto 1843, - oo 
Ditto ditto ditto 1844, oo oo 
Ditto ditto ditto 1845, on oo 
Ditto ditto ditto 1846, “ oo 00 
80,000 0 


Conrrisutions AND Tees. 

By receipts from Members during the year 1842 as per Abstract 
Statement, “ on on o 
Ditto ditto ditto 1843, on 
Ditto ditto ditto 1844, 
Ditto ditto ditto 1845, 
Ditto ditto ditto 1846, . 


eooce 
cocoo 


Picture or I. T, Patsser, Esa. 


By subscription from Members for a portrait as per Abstract 
Statement for 1843, A je +. 1,195 


Astaro Socrery ov Pants. 
By Cash receiyoul for Copying the Vedas as per Abstract State- 
tment for 1843, 625 0 0 


By balauce as per account rendered Slst Dec. 1841, «. 


JOURNAL 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY. 


NOI III ILO ODI DLL LILI LOLI OL OL OLLI OLDE LOL PPLE 


FEBRUARY, 1847. 


POPPI POLL OLE LOLI LOLOL OL LPL OLA LOL ILE LOLI A PEL OLB OL OLE 


Notices and Descriptions of various New or Little Known Species of 
Birds. By Ep. Buytu, Curator of the Asiatic Society’s Museum. 
[Continued from p. 313, ante.] 


Hirundo, Lin. The following are the Indian Swallows hitherto 
ascertained. 

1. H. rustica, Lin. This I have only seen from Nepal.* 

2. H. gutturalis, Scopoli: H. panayana, Lath.; H. javanica, 
Sparrman ; H. jewan, Sykes. The most common species of India 
generally, and of the Malay countries. Fine specimens only differ 
from the last in their smaller size. By far the finest which I have seen, is 
one in Dr. Cantor’s collection from the Malayan Peninsula ; the outer 
tail-feathers of which exceed the next by two inches and a half; but the 
wing measures only four inches and three-eighths, or less than in 
either of eight specimens, young and old, from Nepal and England, 
now before me of H. rustica. 

* During a recent excursion to the Midnapore jungles, I procured a single specimen 
of H. rustica, in company with H. gutturalis and H. daurica ; the last named species 
much predominating, conformably with Mr. Jerdon’s observation of its haunts. Upon 
quitting the river alluvium, a marked change in the zoology of the country became 
at once apparent. Pycnonotus fiavirictus (the Criniger Tickelli, nobis, xiv, 571,) ap- 
peared in abundance ; and the common Bengal Lark ( Alauda gulgula) was no more 


seen or heard over the paddy-fields, while Mirafra assamica became replaced by 
M. affinis. In the jungles, Pal@ornis torquatus was completely replaced by 


No. II. New Serzizs, R 


118 Notices and Descriptions of various New [FEs. 


3. H. domicola, Jerdon: H. javanica apud Latham and Shaw.— 
Neilgherries, Malayan peninsula, Java. I was wrong in identifying 
this bird with the Australian H. xeoxena, Gould, in X1V, 547: the 
latter is HW. pacifica, Lath., and H. javanica apud Vigors and Hors- 
field. Ina fine specimen before me, the wing measures four inches and 
one-eighth, and the outermost tail-feather nearly three inches, exceeding 
the next by an inch and a quarter ; whereas among several specimens 
of H. domicola (from the three localities cited), the wing does not ex- 
ceed three inches and seven-eighths, and the outermost tail-feather is 
at most but half an inch longer than the middle pair. 

4. H. filifera, Stephens: H. rujficeps, Licht.; A. filicauda, 
Franklin: Wire-tailed Swallow, and the young—Ru/fous-headed 
Swallow, of Latham. Indian peninsula. 

5. H. daurica, Lin.: H. alpestris, Pallas; H. erythropygia, 
Sykes ; H..nipalensis, Hodgson. India generally ; preferring the 
proximity of jungles (according to Mr. Jerdon): a casual and irregu- 
lar visitant in Lower Bengal ; but abundant in the Midnapore jungles, 
at least during the cold season. 


P. cyanocephalus: Bucco asiaticus (v. cyanops, &c.,) by B. zeylanicus (v. cani- 
ceps): and the common Calcutta Crow (Corvus splendens) totally disappeared ; 
its place being supplied by C. culminatus. Picus mahrattensis took the place of 
P. Macei. In lieu of the common Sparrow, the Passer (v. Gymnoris) flavicollis, 
with precisely the same note and manners, abounded upon the trees even near build- 
ings, but without ever resorting to the latter. In the same trees were found 
Piprisoma agile, with the manners and note of a Diceum; and Muscicapula 
melanoleuca and M. acornaus: also Athene radiatus, but less numerously than the 
common Ath. brama. Phyllornis aurifrons and Ph. Jerdoni occurred, the latter 
very abundantly; the notes of both being remarkably similar to those of the Di- 
crurid@ : and their manners at once recalled those of Zora, to which genus Phyllornis 
is considerably allied. Zhamnobia cambaiensis was also common; and the manners 
and actions of this species revealed its affinity for the Shamah ( Kittacincla mac- 
rourus) : its tail is usually carried very high, or rather over the back, displaying the 
rufous under-coverts. The Shamah was also obtained. Buceros albirostris was not 
rare, in small flocks; and B. birostris (v. ginginianus ), in pairs: B. pica (v. mala- 
baricus) was also to be met with. In large tracts of coppice jungle, the Taccocua 
affinis (xv, 19,) or Rajmahl Sirkeer, occurred; and Malacocercus ? hyperythrus, 
(Franklin,) differing from its representative in S. India, was not uncommon; also a 
small Prinia, of which the young had been previously sent me by Mr. Jerdon. The 
Drymoica sylvatica, (Jerdon,) inhabited more open situations. On the bare ‘kunkur’ 
soil, near Midnapore, Anthus rufulus was procured, but much less abundantly than the 
common Anth. malayensis: Lanius Hardwickii was also obtained in that neighbour- 
hood, with other Shrikes: and about the pretty rocky hill of Gope, in the same 
vicinity, Gdicnemus crepituns was particularly abundant. Turtur senegalensis was 
likewise obtained there. Nor was this trip less productive in other classes of animals; 
but details regarding these must be reserved. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 119 


6. H. concolor, Sykes. Indian peninsula. 

7. H. rupestris, Scopoli: H. rupicola, Hodgson; H. tnornata, 
Jerdon. Himalaya, Neilgherries. 

8. H. urbica, Lin. Himalaya, Neilgherries. 

9. H. riparia, Lin. Nepal, S. India. ( Non vidi.) 

10. H. sinensis, Gray, in Hardwicke’s Idi. Ind. Zool.: H. brevi- 
caudata, McClelland, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 156: Indian Martin Swallow 
of Latham. I think there can be no doubt that both the former 
names apply to the common little Indian Bank Martin, abundant 
along all the great rivers of the country, wherever the banks are sandy 
and high enough for them to perforate their nest-boles with tolerable 
security. The species is nearly allied to H. riparia in form, colour, 
and habits; but differs in its smaller size, less furcate tail, rather 
lighter colour, with the upper tail-coverts somewhat albescent, also 
in the breast being much paler, and in the absence of the downy tuft 
on the tarse just-above the hind-toe, which invariably distinguishes 
H. riparia. Length of wing three inches and a half to three and three- 
quarters, and of middle tail-feathers an inch and a half. Whether these 
birds are migratory I am unaware. I have found both newly laid eggs 
and young ready to fly in the beginning of December, and also at the 
end of February. The nest-holes vary in depth from a foot and a half to 
considerably more, according as the banks are more or less hard ; and 
the nest itself is composed of dry grass, with occasionally a few feathers 
in the lining : eggs pure white, like those of H. riparia ; and the young 
have their upper feathers more or less margined with rufous, as in 
that species. 

N. B. The H. brevirostris, McClelland, described with H. brevi- 
caudata, I have identified as a Collocalia (XIV, note to p. 548), being 
the same as H. unicolor, Jerdon. 

Of the various groups of Saxicoline Flycatchers, one genus makes a 
considerable approach to the Swallows. This is Hemichelidon, 
Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 203. The bill is absolutely 
as in Hirundo; and the wing reaches to two-thirds of the length of 
the tail, having the first primary minute, the second nearly equal- 
ling the fifth, and the third and fourth equal and longest: rest as 
in Butalis, but the tarse still shorter. Mr. Hodgson describes 
two species, H. fuliginosa and H. ferruginea. The former is com. 


120 Notices and Descriptions of various New (Fes. 


mon at Darjeeling, and the latter I have not yet seen. H. fuliginosa 
has the wing two inches and three-quarters long, and tail an inch and 
three-quarters. Colour plain fuliginous-brown above, paler below, 
albescent towards the vent and lower tail-coverts, and slightly on the 
throat: bill blackish above, the base of the lower mandible yellow; 
and feet brown. Young speckled with pale yellowish-brown, like a 
young Robin.* 

Butalis, Boie, founded on the European Muscicapa grisola. This 
is another good genus, the species of which are distinguished by their 
plain olive or greyish colouring. The beak is more or less elongated 
and flattened, but in the Indian species is generally somewhat larger 
than in B. grisola: the feet are small and feeble ; and the wings reach 
half-way down the tail, having their first primary short, the third and 
fourth sub-equal, and the second generally shorter than the fifth. Tail 
of mean length. All have the larger wing-feathers margined with 
pale buff externally. 

1. B. terricolor, Hodgson, ». s. Plain uniform earthy-brown above, 
and whitish-brown below: the upper mandible dark, and the lower 
whitish except at its extreme tip: legs brown. Length about five inches 
and a half, of wing two and three-quarters, and tail two inches ; bill to 
gape eleven-sixteenths, and tarse halfan inch. The beak of thisspecies — 
is longer, broader, and also flatter, than in B. grisola. From Nepal. 

2. B. rufescens, Jerdon, n.s. Very similar to the last, but distin- 
guished by its general rufous tinge, and especially by its white legs 
and claws. Colour olive-brown above, tinged with rufous on the back, 
and more deeply so on the upper tail-coverts and margins of the 
caudal feathers; wing-coverts and tertiaries also margined with pale 
rufous: throat and fore-neck white, as also the anterior part of the 
lores, but a longitudinal patch of brown on each side of the throat; the 
breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts, brown, paler on the tail, and 
the belly whitish. Beak dark above, and yellowish-white below. 
Dimensions as in last.. From S. India. 

3. B. ruficauda, (Swainson), Nat. Libr., ‘ Flycatchers,’ Appendix. 
The beak of this species more resembles that of B. grisola, but is 


* A species of this genus (apparently) is figured in one of Dr. McClelland’s draw- 
ings of Assamese birds. Colour brown, paler below, whitish towards throat and vent: 
the secondaries and tertiaries margined with white, surrounding the tips of the latter. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. Ti 


longer; the feet are dusky-plumbeous; and the tail and its upper 
coverts are moderately bright rufous or ferruginous, suffused with 
dusky on the middle pair of tail-feathers, and on part of the outer mar- 
gin of the next; rump also tinged with ferruginous ; the rest of the 
upper-parts olivaceous, and the under-parts greyish, passing to white 
on the abdomen and chin; lower tail-coverts white, tinged faintly 
with ferruginous. Length about five inches and a half, of wing 
two and seven-eighths, and tail two and one-eighth; bill to gape 
three-quarters of an inch, and tarse five-eighths: the under mandible 
of the bill of this species has little trace of whitish. Hab. S. India. 

4. B. latirostris, (Raffles, Swainson): Muscicapa poonensis, Sykes. 
The beak of this species is shorter and broader than in the others, and 
much flattened. Length nearly five inches, of wing two and five- 
eighths, and tail an inch and seven-eighths; bill to gape eleven-six- 
teenths, and tarse half an inch. Colour greyish-brown above, some- 
times a little tinged with rufescent ; lower-parts white; the breast, 
flanks, and sides of the throat, light greyish-brown : bill dusky, ex- 
cept the base of the lower mandible, which is pale-yellowish ; and the 
feet are dark brown: wing-coverts and tertiaries margined with light 
rufescent. Hab. S. India and Malay countries. 

The following are two very distinct generic forms of ieeaiokers 
neither of which can be approximated to any other with which I am 
acquainted. 

Muscitrea, nobis. Bill of moderate length, somewhat conical, a 
little compressed, the upper mandible obtusely angulated, with the 
curvature of its outline increasing to the tip, which overhangs that of 
the lower mandible, and is slightly emarginated ; the extreme tip of 
the lower mandible also curves a little upward: gonys straight and 
searcely inflected: the nostrils small, with anterior oval aperture, 
and beset at base with short reflected feathers and some incumbent 
hairs : a few fine hair-like bristles also at the gape, of moderate length. 
Tarsi moderately slender, as long as the middle toe with its claw; 
the toes and claws suited for perching. Wings long and broad, 
reaching more than half-way down the tail, having the fourth and 
fifth primaries equal and longest, the third rather shorter, the second 
equalling the eighth, and the first about half the length of the third. 
Tail moderately developed, its feathers of nearly equal length. The 


122 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fss. 


general plumage inclines to be dense, and is unadorned with bright 
colours and glossless in the only known species. 

M. cinerea, nobis. Length about six inches; of wing nearly 
three and a half; and tail two and a half: bill to forehead (through the 
feathers) five-eighths, and to gape three-quarters: tarse three-quarters 
of an inch. General colour ashy-brown above, greyer on the head, 
and tinged with fulvous on the exterior margins of the secondaries ; 
beneath albescent, a little brown across the breast: bill light horn- 
colour ; and feet have probably been bluish-leaden. From the Island 
of Ramree, Arracan, where discovered by Capt. Abbott. 

Anthipes, nobis. This would probably be classed by Mr. Swainson 
with his Fluvicoline, or “ Water-chats.” With the general form of 
a Pratincola, it combines a Flycatcher’s bill, and the toes and claws of 
an Anthus or Pipit. Beak flattened, rather wide at base, and nar- 
rowing evenly to the tip; the ridge of the upper mandible distinctly 
angulated, and its tip considerably overhanging that of the lower 
mandible, and (as usual in such cases) emarginated: nostrils basal, 
nearly closed by the membrane, their aperture a narrow lateral 
fissure: gape armed with fine but firm vibrisse. Tarse slender, 
as long as the middle toe with its claw: the toes and claws suited 
for running, as in the Pipits; the middle front claw greatly exceeding 
the two lateral ones, and the hind claw as long as the toe, and but 
slightly curved, as are also the other claws. Wings moderate, rounded ; 
the fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries sub-equal and longest, the third 
and seventh rather shorter, the second much shorter, and the first half 
the length of the second. Tail even, of moderate length, or somewhat 
short, the wings reaching half-way to its tip. Plumage full and dense. 

A. gularis, nobis. Length four inches and a quarter ; of wing two 
and three-eighths, and tail an inch and three-quarters: bill to fore- 
head half an inch, and to gape five-eighths: tarse three-quarters, and 
hind-toe and claw the same. Upper-parts fulvescent olive-brown ; 
the wings and tail inclining to dark ferruginous: lores conspicuously 
whitish, continued as a streak over but not beyond the eye: throat 
white, forming a large triangular patch, surrounded by a narrow 
black border; the breast and flanks fulvescent, and middle of the 
belly whitish. Bill black; and legs and claws pale. From Arracan, 
-where discovered by Capt. Phayre. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 123 


The Dimorpha? moniliger, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 196, 
would seem, from the description, to approximate the above species 
in its markings. 

Zanthopygia, nobis. This isa genus of Chat-flycatchers, which | 
am not as yet prepared to approximate to any other. In the form of its 
beak, it bears much resemblance to the Australian genera Eopsaltria 
and Petroica (which branch off from Pachycephala*), and also to 
the Pratincole ; but of the two species to be described, the bill of the 
first is vertically deeper than that of the second, which renders gene- 
ralization more difficult, although the generic identity of the two 
birds is unquestionable. Bill of mean length, acutely triangular as 
viewed from above, or much narrower than in the more characteristic 
Flycatchers ; its upper ridge angulated, and the tip of the upper 
mandible incurved and emarginated: gape beset with fine hair-like 
vibrissee. Tarsi and toes moderately small and weak, the tarse as 
long as the middle toe with its claw; wings reaching half-way down 
the tail, their first primary short, only a quarter the length of the 
second, which is shorter than the fifth, the third and fourth being sub- 
equal and longest. ‘Tail of mean length. Plumage rather firm: the 
males black above, with yellow rump and under-parts, and a large 
white wing-spot. From Malasia. 

Z. leucophrys, nobis. Length about five inches, of wing two and 
three-quarters, and tail an inch and three-quarters : bill to gape five- 
eighths, and tarse barely five-eighths of an inch. Colour deep black 
above, bright yellow below and on the rump ; a large wing-spot, continu- 
ed along two.thirds of the outer edge of the largest tertiary, also a spot 
before and over the eye, and the lower tail-coverts, pure white: bill 
dusky-horn or blackish, and legs brown. The femalet differs widely 
in being of a light olive-green above, tinged with grey, especially 


eee 


* Timixos meruloides, nobis, J. A. S. XI, 195, is Pachycephaia olivacea, Vig. Voli 
and Horsf. ie 

+ Muscicapa zanthopygia, A. Hay, Madr. Journ. Ne-3ee 34; 162. The above / 4 
description of the female is from his lordship’s specimen; and Lord A. Hay’s brief / 
notice of the male ina foot-note, is from a specimen in the Society’s museum, of 
which [ have had a description by me in MS. for two years at least. His lordship, 
by a slip of the pen, referred to Dr. Cantor’s fine collection of Malayan birds, as con- 
taining the male he had seen. Dr. C. has only a female, which accords with the 
description in the text, except perhaps in having the head less tinged with ashy. 


124 Notices and Descriptions of various New (Fes. 


upon the head ; below yellowish-albescent, the feathers of the fore- 
neck and breast margined with the hue of the upper-parts ; rump, 
towards the tail, bright and pure light yellow ; the two great ranges of 
wing-coverts tipped, and the tertiaries externally margined, with 
white: loral streak and the lower tail-coverts dull white: bill dusky 
above, below pale; and the legs pale. From Malacca. 

Z. chrysophrys, nobis. Differs from the preceding in its more slen- 
der and depressed bill; in having a yellow supercilium continued 
back to the occiput ; in the white wing-spot not being continued along 
the edge of the tertiary ; and in the hue of the abdomen passing gra- 
dually to white from the bright yellow of the throat and breast. In 
other words, it may be briefly described as black, with yellow rump, 
supercilium, and under-parts, passing to white on the belly and lower 
tail-coverts, and a large patch of white upon the wing. Length of the | 
wing three inches. The female I have not seen, nor am I aware of 
the habitat of the species ; but have some reason to suspect Australia, 
in which case it will probably bear a prior name. rns 

A considerable group is formed by the various blue Flycatchers of 
India and Malasia, minus the Myiagre (as exemplified by M. ceru- 
lea), which I have already approximated to Tchitrea (p. 290). At 
the head of them may be placed 

Niltava, Hodgson, Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 650. In these beautiful birds, 
the Muscicapa structure is much reduced ; the bill being narrow and 
scarcely flattened, and the rictal bristles, though tolerably long, are very 
fine and slender. According to Mr. Hodgson, they ‘‘never seize on wing,” 
but their affinities with the following groups are nevertheless obvious. 
Three species occur in the Himalaya, the two first appearing to be very 
common at Darjeeling.—1l. N. grandis, nobis, XI, 189 (which Mr. 
Hodgson would separate by the name Bainopus, but I cannot under- 
stand upon what characters).—2. N. sundara, Hodgson.—3. N. Mac. 
gregorii, (Burton), P. Z. S. 1835, p. 152, v. fuligiventer, Hodgson ; 
which (as Lord A. Hay informs me) is common at Simla. 

Cyanoptila, nobis. I found this group on a Javanese Flycatcher, 
which is just intermediate (both in form and colouring) to the pre- 
ceding and following divisions, in neither of which it can be placed ; 
and it thus illustrates the affinities of Niltava. Its wings, how- 
ever, are longer than in either, and more pointed, reaching fully 


¥ J aporeos ; 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds, 195 


half-way down the tail ; and the beak is rather broader and flatter than 
in Niltava, but vertically deep, having the tomiz much inflected: 
rictal bristles small and inconspicuous. Rest as in Stoporala; the 
frontal feathers deflected from the base of the bill, without any of the 
reflex velvety plumes conspicuous in Niltava. 

C. cyanomelanura, (Tem.) Upper-parts deep Prussian-blue; the 
crown and shoulder of the wing ultramarine ; and nearly half of the 
base of the tail pure white : lores, ear-coverts, throat and breast, blue- 
black ; belly and lower tail-coverts sullied white ; and flanks brown. 
Bill black ; and legs dark-coloured. Length of wing three inches and 
three-quarters ; of tail two and a half ;. bill to frontal-feathers half an 
inch ; and tarse nine-sixteenths. 

Stoporala, nobis. The type of this marked group is S¢. melanops, 
_ (Vigors), v. Muscicapa lapis, Lesson ( Rev. Zool. Sc. 1839, p. 104), 
and the female—M. ¢thalassina, Swainson, Nat. Libr.: Verditer Fly- 
catcher of Latham.—A second species, closely allied, inhabits Java; 
differing in its smaller size, and deeper blue colouring: length of 
wing three inches, instead of three and three-eighths, and the 
rest in proportion.—A third, from Java, is St. éndigo, (Horsf.), 
which in its white base of tail, the spreading of the loral black 
on the chin and beneath the eye, and a little also in structure, 
approximates the Cyanoptila.—A fourth, allied to the last, especially 
in the white at the base of its caudal feathers, and in structure 
much resembling the first species, is S¢. albicaudata, (Jerdon), from 
the Neilgherries. 

Siphia, Hodgson, Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 651. To this group may, I 
think, be referred— 

1. S. strophiata, Hodgson, Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 651, Himalaya. 

2. S. leucura, (Gm.): Sazicola rubeculoides, Sykes ; Synornis jou- 
laimus, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 197; Muscicapa parva 
of India, apud Sundevall: White-tailed Redbreast of Latham, whose 
Maculate Flycatcher refers probably to the young. N. B.—Compara- 
tively few specimens of this bird are procurable with the rufous throat. 
It inhabits India generally, visiting the plains in the cold season. 
From recollection, I should say that the European Musc. parva, 
Auctorum, is very nearly allied. 


126 Notices and Descriptions of vartous New [FEs. 


3. 8. erythaca, nobis, m. s. Closely allied in form and structure 
to the last, but the whole throat, breast, and fore-part of the abdomen, 
bright yellowish-ferruginous ; two narrow whitish bands across the 
wing, formed by the tips of the coverts ; and the white on the sides of 
the base of the tail much reduced (as compared with the two preceding 
species), occupying only the extreme base of the outermost tail-feathers, 
and successively increasing in quantity upon the next four: belly and 
lower tail-coverts pure white ; the flanks fulvous-brown: behind the 
eye a whitish spot: a slight olivaceous tinge on the upper-parts gene- 
rally ; and the tertials margined with whitish. Wing two inches and 
seven-eighths ; tail an inch and seven-eighths; bill to gape nine- 
sixteenths of an inch, and tarse the same. The female is probably 
without the rufous on the under-parts, but would be distinguished 
from that of the preceding species by the narrow whitish bands on the 
wing, and also by the reduced quantity of white at the base of the tail. 
Inhabits the Malayan peninsula. 

4. S. leucomelanura ; Digenea leucomelanura, Hodgson, Ann. 
Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 197. Length five inches, or a little more; of 
wing two and three-eighths, and tail two and one-eighth ; bill to 
gape nine-sixteenths ; and tarse three-quarters of an inch. Above 
dark slaty-ash, having a blue tinge, the forehead and over the eyes 
vivid blue-grey; lores and ear-coverts black ; middle of throat and 
fore-neck white, the rest of the under-parts whitish-grey, passing to 
white at the vent and on the lower tail-coverts ; tail black, its basal 
half white, except on the two middle feathers, and on the inner web 
of the next to th Bill dusky, and feet brown. This bird has 
somewhat the aspect, at first sight, of Janthia rujfilatus (p. 132), but 
is at once distinguished by its smaller size, shorter bill, duller colour- 
ing, the white upon the tail, and the absence of rufous on the flanks. 
Hab. Nepal. 

5. §. tricolor ; Digenea tricolor, Hodgson, loc. cit. Length about 
four inches and three-quarters, of wing two and a quarter, and tail 
two inches ; bill to gape half an inch, and tarse five-eighths. Colour 
(of female?) olive-brown,* fulvescent on the rump; and passing to 


* Mr. Hodgson says ‘“ olive-green ;’”’ but there is not the slightest tinge of green 
on the specimens with which he has favoured the Society, though these may possibly 
be females. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 127 


rufous-brown on the wings; tail dull ferruginous: under-parts light 
brown, inclining to albescent on the throat and belly: bill dusky, and 
legs brown. Young spotted above like a young Robin, or Stonechat, &c. 
Hab. Nepal. 

6. §. signata; Letothriz signata, McClelland and Horsfield, P. Z. 
S. 1839, p. 162, v. Dimorpha* (alias Siphia) auricularis, (Hodgson), 
J. A. S, XII, 240. Himalaya, Assam. 

7. S. moniliger, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1845, p. 197. 
(Non vidi.) | 

Muscicapula, nobis, XII, 939. This comprises— 

1. M. sapphira, nobis.—2. M. superciliaris, (Jerdon), v. Dimorpha 
albogularis, nobis, XI, 190: Lucknow Flycatcher and Azure Warbler, 
Latham.—3 .M. hyperythra, nobis, XI, 885, altered from supercii- 
- aris, nobis, XI, 190, and again by an oversight to rwbecula, XII, 940 ; 
_ Dimorpha rubrocyanea, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 197.—4. 
M. melanoleuca, (Hodg.), a name which will probably not stand, as 
the Society has received the identical species from Java, from which 
part M. Temminck also will probably have received and named it.t— 
In M. sapphira, the affinity to Niltava, Cyanopiila, &c., is still 
obvious in the colouring; and in Siphia signaia, the general brown 
plumage is relieved by a patch of ultramarine-blue on each side of the 
neck, as in restricted Niltava, (or the Neel-towws of the Nepalese.) 
M. melanoleuca, as already remarked (XVJ% 306), seems allied to 
Hemipus, Hodgson. | 

5. M. acornaus, (Hodgson); Musc. pdonensis apud nos, XI, 458. 
Length four inches and three-eighths, by six inches and three-quarters ; 
of wing two and three-sixteenths to two and three-eighths; and of 
tail an inch and a half to one and three-quarters: bill to gape nine- 
sixteenths of an inch; and tarse somewhat more. Colour greyish- 
olive above, fulvescent on the rump, and rufescent-brown on the upper 
tail-coverts and margining the base of the tail-feathers; one Nepalese 
specimen has the upper tail-coverts ashy: lower-parts albescent-grey- 
ish, slightly tinged with fulvous in some specimens; the throat, mid- 
dle of belly, and lower tail-coverts, dull white: axillaries pure white: 


* Dimorpha is the name of an old genus in Botany. 
+ 1t is not rare in the Midnapore jungles; and Capt. Phayre had sent it from 


Ayrracan, 


128 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fes. 


primaries dusky, the secondaries externally margined with olive, and 
the tertiaries with greyish or whitish-grey, becoming abraded on the 
worn plumage: greater coverts of the wing whitish-tipped, forming a 
slight wing-band. Bill blackish, and legs dusky or deep brown. 
The colour of this bird would ally it to Bwutalis, while its form is 
strictly that of Muscicapula. It inhabits the S. E. Himalaya, and 
Central India: being not rare in the Midnapore jungles. 

Cyornis, nobis, XII, 940. To this may be referred— 

1. C. rubeculoides, (Vig.): Niltava brevipes, Hodgson, Ind. Rev. 
1837, p. 651: Etherial Warbler of Latham, and the female agrees 
with the supposed female of his Blue Indian Warbler. Inhabits all 
northern India, visiting the plains during the cold season. On'the 
eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, it extends southward to the Tenas- 
serim provinces ; but in southern India is represented by the next. 

2. C. banyumas, (Horsf.): Muscicapa caniatriz, Tem. Hab. Neil- 
gherries, Java. 

3. C. elegans, (Tem.,) apud Strickland: C. Tickellice, nobis ; Mus- 
cicapa hyacintha, apud Tickell, and the female—Musc. rubecula, 
Swainson. Hab. Central India—N. B. The Blue Indian Warbler 
of Latham would suit this species, except that the colour of the upper- 
parts is stated to be deep blue, instead of light greyish-blue, brighter 
on the forehead and shoulder of the wing. 

4. C. unicolor, nobis, XII, 1007. Described from the imperfect- 
ly moulted young. The adult is a larger bird than either of its con- 
geners, a male measuring nearly seven inches long, the wing three 
and a quarter, and the tail three inches. Colour a light smalt-blue, 
approaching to verditer above; the lower-parts paler, inclining to 
albescent below the breast: forehead and over the eye beautiful 
smalt-blue, as is also the shoulder of the wing: axillaries light rufes- 
cent, and a tinge of the same on the lower tail-coverts. From Dar- 
jeeling. 

5. C. pallipes, (Jerdon), Madr. Journ. No. XXVI, 15. Neil- 
gherries. 

6. ? Probably Muscicapa rufigastra, Raffles, Lin. Tr. XIII, 312. 

Ochromela, nobis. Nearly allied to the last group; but the Fly- 
catcher form of bill more pronounced, and the rictal vibrisse longer ; 
tarsi also rather longer, the wings more rounded, and the style of 
colouring altogether different—bright rusty, with black cap and wings, 


E47. * or Little Known Species of Birds. 129 


in the only ascertained species—Ochr. nigrorufa, (Jerdon), Madr. 
Journ. No. XXV, 266, v. Muscicapa rufula, la Fresnaye. Hab. 
summit of Neilgherries. 

Pratincola, Koch. The Chats. 

1. Pr. insignis, Hodgson, n. s. General aspect much that of Pr. 
rubicola, from which it differs in its far superior size, white throat, and 
much larger white wing-spot. Length six inches and a half, of wing 
three and a half, and tail two and a quarter ; bill to gape seven-eighths, 
and tarse an inch and one-eighth. Male (in summer dress) above black ; 
the throat, sides of the neck, upper tail-coverts, a large longitudinal 
patch on the wings, together with the base of the primaries and greater 
portion of their larger coverts, white; breast bright ferruginous, the 
belly white, a little tinged with the same: bill and feet blackish. The 
female I have not seen. From Nepal. 

2. Pr. indica, nobis, n. s. Closely allied to the European Pr. rubi- 
cola, with which it has been hitherto confounded: but distinguishable 
by its longer wing, averaging two inches and three-quarters; by the 
greater development of the white on the sides of the neck, which 
nearly passes round the nape, leaving a narrow dark interval (instead 
of a very broad one); and by the rufous-brown of the breast being 
much weaker, and paling laterally, the flanks being commonly very 
pale, and the lower tail-coverts pure white, or rarely a little sullied 
with brown : in winter dress, the dorsal edgings are very whitish in old 
males. The females, also (judging from memory of the European 
species), are altogether much paler. Common throughout India.* 

3. Pr. caprata, (.): Saxicola fruticola, Horsf. ; S. bicolor et S. 
erythropygia, Sykes; Motacilla sylvatica (?), Tickell, I], 575. Com- 
mon in most parts of the country, and esteemed by the natives as a 
cage bird; having a pleasing song, approaching to that of an English 
Robin, but more uniformly plaintive. It is termed by them P’hidda. 

4. Pr. ferrea, Hodgson, x. s. A typical species, except that its tail 
is longer than usual in this group. Length about five inches and three- 
quarters, of which the tail measures two and a half; wing two inches 
and five-eighths ; bill to gape five-eighths; and tarse seven-eighths. 
Upper-parts black, the feathers margined with ash-grey, the latter pre- 


* In Ann. Mag. N. H. 1844, p. 410, Mr. Strickland has separated the S. African 
species previously confounded with Pr. rubicola, by the name Pr. pastor. 


130 Notices and Descriptions of various New ; [Fxs. 


dominating on the rump; lores and ear-coverts black: throat, super- 
cilium, and wing-spot, white; also the fore-neck, but the rest of the 
lower-parts tinged with ashy: tail black, its feathers narrowly mar- 
gined with white externally, and the outermost pair (which are half an 
inch shorter than the middle ones,) for the most part partially albes- 
cent. Female rather smaller, and wholly brown above, passing to fer- 
ruginous on the upper tail-coverts, and there is an admixture of this 
colour on the rectrices: under- parts pale brown, rufescent on the flanks 
and lower tail-coverts, and whitish on the throat. Bill and feet black. 
Common in the eastern Himalaya. 

Saxicola (?) pallida, nobis, n. s. This bird is essentially a 
Wheatear; but is remarkable for its large size, long bill, and short legs. 
Length nine inches; of wing four and three-quarters, and tail three 
and three-eighths; bill to gape an inch and a quarter; tarse the same. 
Colour (of female ?) light isabella-grey above, more fulvescent on the 
tertiaries and middle tail-feathers, which are shaded with pale dusky 
along the middle: lores, throat, and belly, whitish; the breast-feathers 
dusky, with broad whitish margins concealing the dark colour within: 
central ear-coverts pale, the rest nigrescent: wings internally white on 
the anterior half, the rest dusky ; above the primaries and secondaries 
are white at base, and the shorter primaries are also white-tipped, 
the white increasing in quantity to the secondaries, which are broadly 
white-tipped ; greater wing-coverts also white-tipped, forming a bar on 
the wing; and the small wing-coverts margined with pale fulvescent : 
tail, except its two middle feathers, dusky, the outermost having its 
narrow outer web almost wholly white, and the penultimate a narrow 
white edge to its outer web. Bill pale horny; and legs also pale. 
Inhabits Scinde (Ullah Bund), and the specimen described was pre- 
sented to the Society by the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic 
Society of London. , 

Of typical Indian Wheatears, may be enumerated— 

1. S. stapazina (?), Auct. Length about six inches and a half, of 
wing three and three-quarters, and tail two anda half; bill to gape 
three-quarters of an inch, and tarse an inch and one-sixteenth. General 
colour pale fawn (or isabelline) above, lighter below, and tinged with 
greyish on the crown and nape; throat, front and sides of the neck, 
including the lores and ear-coverts, black ; wing also black, the coverts 


1847, | or Little Known Species of Birds. 131 


slightly tipped, and the tertiaries margined with whitish, disappearing 
in the worn plumage; a considerable whitish patch at the base of the 
wing, ordinarily concealed beneath the scapularies ; also an ill-defined 
whitish supercilium continued to the occiput, and contrasting with the 
black adjoining it below : upper and lower tail-coverts buffy-white ; and 
base of tail pure white, its terminal two-thirds black. Bill and feet 
black. Common in the Upper Provinces, Scinde, &c. If new, S. 
atrogularis, nobis. 

2, S. leucomela, Tem. Also common in the NW. of India. 

3. S. picata, nobis, n. s. Merely differs from the last in having the 
crown of the head black, instead of white. For both sexes of this and 
of the preceding species, the Society is indebted to Capt. Boys, who 
procured them abundantly on the march from Scinde to Ferozepore. 
The present species is figured among Burnes’ drawings, from Scinde. 

4, S. leucura, (Shaw). This, again, only differs from S. picata in 
having the whole under-parts, as far as the vent, of a uniform black 
with the rest. Together with (supposed) S. stapazina, it is common 
about Agra, from which locality Dr. Stewart has presented the sais 
with fine specimens of both.* 

N. B. The Darunga Thrush of Latham, obtained at Cnahapore in 
November, appears to me (judging from the description) to be a true 
Wheatear; and it certainly cannot be the Merula Wardii of Jerdon, to 
which that naturalist has referred it. 

Among Burnes’ drawings, there is also a rude figure of what is 
probably Sax. melanura, Tem., a species described as inhabiting 


* Stephens refers this to S. cachinnans, Tem.; but the latter is, I believe, the 
species figured by Savieny (¢. v., f. i.), which differs from S. deucura, as S. leucomela 
differs from S$. picata, in having a white cap. There are thus a white-capped and 
a black-capped species with white belly—S. lewcomela and S. picata, and ditto ditto 
with black belly—S. cachinnans and S. leucura. 

t ‘‘ Length six inches at least. General colour of the bill, legs, and plumage, black ; 
over the eye, from the nostrils towards the nape, a whitish streak, but ceasing before 
it reaches the latter; breast, belly and thighs, white, also the upper tail-coverts; the 
greater part of the tail from the base white, the side feathers being only tipped with 
black for half an inch; but the two middle feathers have their ends black for an inch 
and a half: the wings reach to more than half on the tail. Another, said to be a female, 
has the head and neck to the breast, and wings, and the whole of the two middle tail- 
feathers, dusky brown-black ; on each jaw a large patch of deep black: breast, belly, 
thighs, and rump, upper and under tail-coverts, white; the two middle tail-feathers 
black ; the rest white, except for about half an inch at the end.’’ 


132 Notices and Descriptions of various New (Fes. 


Arabia. If rightly identified, however, this would seem to be a very 
aberrant Wheatear ; and its colouring is much as in the female Siphia 
leucura (p. 125 ante). 

Grandala celicolor, Hodgson, J. A. §. XII, 447. This very re- 
markable and (the male) most splendidly coloured bird, from the snow 
region of the Himalaya, appears to me to be decidedly allied to the 
Wheatears. - 

Lanthia, nobis: Nemura, Hodgson (a name long pre-occupied in 
entomology), Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 198. The birds of this divi- 
sion are closely allied to the Robins (rydhaca), from which they dif- 
fer in their more delicate conformation, longer wings (reaching half- 
way down the tail), much weaker bill, longer and more slender claws— 
especially that of the hind-toe, and in the sexual diversity of colouring. 
The males (so far as known) are deep blue above, with lighter blue on 
the forehead and over the eye; and in the two first species (which are 
typical), this colour is confined to the rump and tail of the other sex. 

1. I. hyperythra, nobis. Length about five inches and a half, of wing 
three and one-eighth, and tail two and a quarter; bill to gape nine- 
sixteenths, and tarse an inch. Upper-parts of male deep indigo-blue, 
brightening to ultramarine on the forehead and above the eyes, and 
upon the shoulder of the wing; the wings and tail black, the fea- 
thers margined with blue externally: lower-parts bright yellowish- 
ferruginous, confined to a narrowish streak on the middle of the throat 
and fore-neck; the lower tail-coverts and centre of the belly white. 
Female, a rich brown above, approaching to the colour of Hrythaca 
vubecula, or rather the feathers are merely tipped with this colour, 
shewing more or less of the cinereous-dusky tint within: tail blue as 
in the male, the rump a lighter and more greyish-blue; there is also a 
little blue on the shoulder of the wing, and a greyish-blue supercilium 
brightening posteriorly : lower-parts tawney-brown, or subdued fulvous, 
except the lower tail-coverts which are white. Bill and feet dusky in 
both sexes. From Darjeeling. 

2. I. rufilatus, (Hodgson), and the female—Nemura cyanura, 
Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 198. I suspect that the female 
of this bird is also the Erythaca Tytleri of Prof. Jameson, noticed 
(but not described) in the ‘ Transactions of the Wernerian Society,’ and 
also in the ‘ Edinbro’ Philosophical Journal’ for July 1835, p. 214, where 


1847. ] or Little Known Species of Birds. 133 


it is mentioned to agree in the grouping of its colours with the Robin 
of Europe, but in the form of the bill to present as it were a link be- 
tween the genera Hrythaca and Phenicura. The Motacilla cyanura, 
Gmelin, from Siberia, may refer to the female of either this or the preced- 
ing, or to that of some other equally allied species. Size and proportions 
of last, save that the tail is a quarter of an inch longer. The male 
has the upper-parts Prussian-blue, brightening and inclining to ultra- 
marine upon the sides of the forehead over the eyes, on the shoulder 
of the wing, and on the rump: lower-parts white, confined to a 
narrow streak on the throat and fore-neck, but the flanks bright ferru- 
ginous: bill blackish, and legs dark brown. The female has the upper- 
parts uniform brown, with a trace of blue on the shoulder of the wing, 
a supercilium greyish-blue posteriorly, and russet margins to the terti- 
aries; tail blue as in the male, and the rump lighter and more greyish- 
blue: middle of belly, lower tail-coverts, and median line of throat, 
white; and the flanks bright ferruginous as in the other sex. This 
ferruginous colour of the flanks, with the hue of the upper-parts, 
produces a certain resemblance of colouring to the Robin of Europe, 
sufficient to have elicited the remark of Prof. Jameson. Inhabits the 
Himalaya generally, at least from Simla to Darjeeling. 

3. I. flavolivacea, (Hodgson). I have little doubt that this is a female 
bird, distinguished from the females of the two preceding species by 
having no blue on its rump or tail. The tarse is longer than in the 
others, measuring an inch and one-eighth; wing two inches and seven- 
eighths ; total length five and a half, of which the tail is two and a 
quarter. Upper-parts uniform brown, the loral region and throat 
rufescent-white, and rest of the under-parts dilute rusty: bill dusky, 
the base of the lower mandible pale; and the legs pale. Described 
from Mr. Hodgson’s only specimen. 

Ruticilla, Brehm: Phenicura, Swainson. The Redstarts. Of the 
typical members of this genus, the European A. phenicurus was 
obtained by the late Sir A. Burnes on the banks of the Indus.*—2, R. 
erythrogastra, (Gould.): Motacilla aurorea, Pallas; Ph. Reevesii, Gray, 
described in XII, 963. Inhabits Nepal and Assam, and extends from 
the Caucasus to Japan (as I am informed by Mr. Strickland, who also 
favoured me with its synonymes as here given).—38. A. leucoptera, 


* The other European species, A, tithys, is common in Afghanistan. 
Ji 


134 Notices and Descriptions of various New [F xs. 


nobis, XII, 962. This Malayan Redstart has lately been received by 
the Society from Java, two males and a female, so that it will probably 
have been named by M. Temminck :* the female is plain brown above, 
paler beneath, with rufous tail, and the same great white wing-spot as 
in the male.—4. J. c@ruleocephala, Vigors: a typical species, but re- 
markable for not having the tail rufous as in the others. Himalaya.—5. 
R. atrata, (Latham): the only Redstart which is diffused generally over 
the country.—6. &. frontalis, Vigors: apparently the most common of 
the Himalayan Redstarts, from Simla to Darjeeling ; and remarkable for 
its terminal black tail-band.—7. &. fuliginosa, (Vigors), v. plumbea, 
Gould. Rather an aberrant species, with small short bill; and presenting 
a singular diversity in the plumage of the sexes,—the male being uniform 
dusky-grey, with dark ferruginous tail and coverts,—the female paler 
ashy, with whitish lower- parts, each feather margined with the colour of 
the back, and no rufous on the tail, which is white at base, extending 
over nearly the whole of its outermost feathers, and its upper and lower 
coverts also being pure white. From the Himalaya generally, and 
said to resemble the next species in its habits. 

8. F. leucocephala, (Vigors and Gould), v. Sylvia erythrogastra, var. 
A, Lath., is the type of Mr. Hodgson’s Chamorrhous. The sexes are 
similar ; but I can perceive no structural distinction from the true 
Redstarts. This remarkable and beautiful species is stated, however, 
by Mr. Hodgson to differ considerably in habit from the latter, keep- 
ing always about mountain torrents; and Captain Hutton writes me 
word, that it is very common in the valley of the Dhoon, and also in the 
hills along the banks of streams and rivers, “flitting from rock to 
rock and stone to stone, and eternally shaking its tail and spreading it 
by turns.” The last is a characteristic peculiarity of the true Red- 
starts; and Lord A. Hay, who has obliged me with a similar account of 
the habits of this bird, sees nothing in them at variance with the gene- 
ric habits of other Ruticille. 

Calliope, Gould. The type of this group is the very Thrush-like 
(in structure and habits) C. camtschathensis, (Gm.), v. C. Lathami, 
Gould, and Motacilla calliope, Pallas. This bird is common in Lower 
Bengal during the cold season, and occurs in central India. A second 


* Unless, as is not improbable, M. Temminck considers it to be a mere ‘ climatal 
or local yariety’’ of R. pheenicurus. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 135 


species, with less firm plumage and rounder wings and tail, is C. pecto- 
ralis, Gould, figured by that naturalist in his Jcones Avium: from the 
Himalaya. A third, referred by Mr. Jerdon and myself to this group, 
is C. cyana, v. Larvivora cyana, Hodgson, and Phenicura supercilt- 
aris, Jerdon. Also from the Himalaya; and once obtained by Mr. 
Jerdon in the Neilgherries, and once by myself near Calcutta. In the 
Himalaya I am informed that it is common. 

Larvivora brunnea, Hodgson, VI, 102, is probably but the female 
of C. camtschatkensis; and C. cruralis, nobis, XII, 933, is a typical 
Brachypteryx. 

Tarsiger chryseus, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 198, 
and doubtfully referred to Sericornis of Gould, in XIV, 549, comes 
next in order:—and then the Cyanecula suecica (?), or Blue-breast, 
common in most parts of India; but whether absolutely identical 
with the European bird, I have some doubt, as its pectoral spot 
is always rufous instead of white. Can it be the species nearly 
allied to suecica mentioned by the Prince of Canino, in Lin. Trans. 
XIV, 754? Cyanecula has been merged in Ruticilla (v. Phonicura) 
by many authors, though it has little in common with that genus 
beyond the rufous on its tail. The typical Redstarts are sylvan 
birds, frequenting high trees, especially in rocky places or about 
buildings, and fond of singing from the topmost sprays; but which 
occasionally descend to the ground to feed, hopping about in the 
manner of a Robin. The Blue-breasts, on the contrary, affect 
the open country, where there are no trees, and especially reedy 
places, or plantations of sugar-cane, or growing corn or high grass, 
or ground covered with the broad leaves of cucurbitaceous plants ; 
and there they are seen generally on the ground, running with 
alternate steps like a Pipit or Wagtail, and occasionally spread- 
ing wide the tail, displaying its rufous base to advantage; seldom 
perching, but flitting before you as you advance, and disappear- 
ing among the low cover; but soon coming forth when all is still, yet 
without absolutely quitting the shelter of the herbage by going more 
than a few paces from it. In Lower Bengal, these birds are extremely 
common in suitable situations. The Indian species is the Blue- 
necked Warbler of Latham, and his Sylvia sperata, var. A, is pro- 
bably the female. 


136 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fxs. 


The following three genera are closely allied. 

Sylvania, nobis. General characters of Callene (formerly Cineli- 
dium, nobis, XI, 181*); but the bill much slenderer and straighter, 
resembling that of Calliope camtschathensis, whereas the bill of Callene 
more resembles that of Copsychus, and especially Notodela. 

S. phenicuroides, (Hodgson).t Length about seven inches and a 
quarter, of which the middle tail-feathers measure three and a 
quarter, the outermost nearly an inch less; wing two inches and 
seven-eighths; bill to gape seven-eighths; and tarse an inch and one- 
eighth. Upper-parts uniform dark cyaneous, or deep slaty-blue, less 
deep however than in Callene frontalis, or Brachypteryx montana ; 
the lower similar but rather paler, passing into white on the middle of 
the belly; the winglet feathers are also tipped with white: tail black, all 
but its middle pair of feathers ferruginous for the basal half: bill 
dusky; and legs brown. Female rather smaller, and wholly brown 
above, paler brown below, passing to albescent along the middle of 
the belly; a slight tinge of rufous, but undefined, at the base of the 
caudal feathers. Inhabits Nepal. 

Callene (olim Cinclidium) frontalis, nobis, figured in XII, 1010. 
This form differs from the next in its larger and stronger bill, more 
developed tail, and the somewhat scale-like character of its plumage ;t 
but in other respects is hardly separable. 

Brachypteryx, Uorsfield. The Society having been favoured by the 
Natural History Society of Batavia with specimens of Br. montana and 
Br. sepiaria, Horsf., of Java, I am enabled to approximate very closely 
to the former species (which is the type of this genus,) the Calliope ? 
cruralis, nobis, XII, 933, which merely differs from Br. montana in 
its somewhat smaller size, the absence of the mass of erect soft blackish 
plumelets on the forehead, and in the concealed white streak over the 
eye being continued forward to the nostrils. A second Indian species 
exists in the Phenicura major, Jerdon, of the Neilgherries, which, 
however, is less typical, and has the tail considerably more developed. 
Br. sepium, Uorsfield, pertains to my genus Alcippe, as suggested in 
XIII, 284, and is very nearly allied to A. potocephala, (Jerdon), and some 


* The name Cinclidium was pre-applied in Botany to a genus of mosses. 
+ Mr. Hodgson refers this bird to Bradyterus of Swainson. 
~ Even this, however, occurs on the under-parts of Br. cruralis. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 137 


others. Lastly, Mr. Eyton, as noticed in XVI% 10, has recently assigned 
three Malacca species to Brachypteryx, all of which I had previously 
described and referred to Zimatia, in which genus I would still 
decidedly retain them; and another of my Timalie¢ he has classed in 
his Malacopteron, while he refers also to Malacopteron an unquestion- 
able Bulboul, my Jaitdia cyaniventris: Br. nigrocapitata, Eyton, 
P. Z. S. 1839, p. 103, has more the technical features of true 
Brachypteryx ; but its affinities would seem to be rather with the 
Malacopteron series. | 

To Brachypteryx must also be approximated the curious little birds 
first classed by Mr. Hodgson under his Yesia, and of which he has 
since made two genera— Pnoépyga and Oligura, in Ann. Mag. N. H. 
1845, p. 195. These I have also treated of in XIV, 586; and if the 
two sub-groups are to be separated, the name Zesia must be retained 
in lieu of Oligura for the one section (this containing the species at 
the head of those first described under that name), while Microura of 
Gould (unless pre-occupied)* must stand for Pnoépyga, Hodgson, in- 
asmuch as it was long previously applied to the same special group.f 
Three of the species referred to Pnoépyga by Mr. Hodgson are merely 
varieties of one species, as shewn in XIV, 586. 

T. (v. Oligura) auriceps, Hodgson, n. s. (Non vidi.) “ Above 
flavescent-olive, below pure deep slaty; the cap golden-yellow: bill 
coral-red below, dusky above: legs dusky flesh-colour. Length three 
inches and a half; bill six-tenths of an inch; tail nine-tenths; wing 
an inch and two-tenths; tarse an inch; central toe and nail seven- 
tenths; head five-tenths. Hab. Sikim. The bill of this bird is de- 
pressed ; rictus hispid; lateral toes unequal, the hind large; and nails 
acute: by all which marks, in common with 7. cyaniventer and [cas- 
taneo-coronata, v. | flaviventer, the type is proved to be different from 
[| Microura, v.| Pnoépyga.” Hodgson’s MS. 


* It is, 1 find, pre-occupied by Ehrenberg, for a genus of Vermes. 

¢ Aipenumia of Swainson, described in the Appendix to Vol. II of the Fauna 
Americana-borealis, certainly refers to these birds, comprehending, I think, both 
groups; and it is of prior application by many years to the other names: but which 
of the sub-groups it should be retained for is uncertain, as Mr. S. refers to undescribed 
species only. Tesia of Hodgson, as originally proposed, would in such case be quite 
synonymous; and if Aipenumia be restored, it might therefore be substituted for 
Tesia in the more limited sense of the latter appellation. 


138 Notices and Descriptions of various New [FEs. 


Whether the genus Horettes, Hodgson, should accompany Tesia and 
Microura in the approximation of these latter to Brachypteryzx, will 
admit of considerable doubt. 

From the Brachypteryx series, we might now pass to what have been 
called the Myiotherine birds; and thence by the vast series of forms 
comprised under Swainson’s Crateropodine : but some important groups 
must intervene; and, first, the four following allied genera— 

Notodela, Lesson. This, I very strongly suspect, is identical with 
Muscisylvia, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 197.* The beak, 
and even the colouring of the head, of the Himalayan species very 
closely resemble those of Callene frontalis ; but the rest of the struc- 
ture approximates these birds to the Dhyals ( Copsychus), and even 
the beak merely differs in being smaller. To particularize further, 
the general structure is that of Copsychus, but less robust, with a 
nearly square tail, of which the outermost pairs of feathers graduate 
but slightly: the bill is smaller, and the tarsi and toes are more 
slender, than in Copsychus, with longer and more gracile claws, espe- 
cially that of the hind-toe: wings reaching half-way down the tail, and 
having the fifth primary longest, the first about two-fifths the length 
of the fifth, and the second, third, and fourth, graduating in a suc- 
cessively decreasing ratio. If correctly brought together, two species 
will have been ascertained. 

1, N. diana, Lesson, Zool. du Voyage de M. Belanger : respecting 
which I quote the following from my notes, not having the work to 
refer to. Length eight inches; bill to gape eight lines; and tarse ten 
lines. Plumage deep brownish-blue, relieved on the forehead by a 
satiny-white crescent. From Pegu. 

2. NV. leucura, (Hodgson). Length about seven inches and a half, of 
wing three and three-quarters, and tail three and a quarter; bill to 
gape seven-eighths, and tarse an inch; hind-toe three-eighths of an 
inch. General colour dark blackish indigo-blue; the forehead and 
over the eyes, and the shoulder of the wing, bright smalt-blue; alars 
and caudals dull black, except the basal portion of the external web of 
the three tail-feathers on each side next to the outermost feathers, the 
quantity of this white increasing outwardly : a concealed white spot on 
the sides of the neck in the male: bill and feet black. According to 


* This name is, besides, too like Muscylva of Lesson. 


1847. | or Little Known Species of Birds. 139 


Mr. Hodgson, it “‘inhabits the mountains solely: is chiefly arboreal : 
and feeds on caterpillars, grubs and soft insects, and equally on pulpy 
berries.” 

Copsychus, Wagler; Dahila, Hodgson. The Dhyals. Of this 
genus, the Bengal and common Indian species is Gryllivora interme- 
dia, Swainson, and Dahila docilis, Hodgson, As. Res. XIX, 189. In 
this the females have, constantly, the whole upper-parts glossy ash 
colour, blackening on the middle tail-feathers ; while the females of 
the two following have, as invariably, the upper-parts glossy black, 
though less intense than in the male, and passing to blackish-ashy on 
the forehead ; now this latter agrees with Edwards’ description of 
the female of his ‘ Little Indian Pie,’ which, however, he adds, was sent 
from Bengal; and upon Edwards’ figure is founded Gracula saularis 
of Linnzus. Perhaps, therefore, it will be as well to consider the Ben- 
gal bird as C. saularis, (Lin.), in conformity with recent systematists. 
The Ceylon D’hyal would seem to be Gryllivora brevirostra, Sw., 
having a rather smaller bill than that of continental India, and the 
males of both have the four outer tail-feathers on each side white, the 
fourth, however, having commonly some slight admixture of black, 
while in the females the fourth has, generally, even more black than 
white. The Malayan D’hyal is Gr. magnirostray Sw., having a con- 
spicuously larger bill than in the others, and never more than the tip 
of the fourth tail-feather white, and a good deal of black often on the 
third. It will range as C. mindanensis, (Gm.), v. Turdus amenus, 
Horsf., and Lanius musicus, Raffles. Mr. Swainson also describes a 
Gr. rosea; respecting which Mr. Strickland writes me word, after 
examining Swainson’s original specimen, that it ‘is certainly only C. 
mindanensis (v. magnirostra, Sw.), with plumage slightly stained by 
some rufous material, probably the red soil of some locality.” 

Kittacincla macrourus, (Gm.), Gould: Gryllivora longicauda, Swain- 
son. The Shamah. This splendid singing bird seems to be com- 
mon in the hill jungles of Central India, and those at the foot of the 
Himalaya; and it is especially numerous in the territories eastward 
of the Bay, and in the Malay countries generally: but in the south of 
India it is somewhat rare. 

Thamnobia, Swainson: Sawxicoloides, Lesson. There are two spe- 
cies of this genus: that of Upper India, 7’. cambazensis, (Lath.), the 


140 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Frs. 


female of which is S. erythrurus of Lesson, has constantly the head 
and upper-parts of the male olive-brown; while in that of Southern 
India, the head and upper-parts of the male are shining deep black, 
the same as the under-parts,—this latter being Motacilla fulicata, 
Lin., Znanthe ptygmatura, Vieillot, Th. leucoptera, Swainson, Rus- 
ty-vented Thrush, and the female— Sylvia fulicata, var. A, of Latham. 
The females of the two species are, however, undistinguishable; and 
I have observed that the younger males of 7’. fulicata have the upper- 
parts more or less brown, as in the northern species, the head more 
especially ; but the dorsal plumage (so far as I have seen) is always 
shining black underneath, and the brown edgings are cast after a while, 
leaving a more or less perfect black surface. The northern species, on 
the contrary, has no black on the interior of its feathers. This bird 
is the Motacilla fulicata of Tickell’s list, and it abounds in all Upper 
India: I have never seen it from below the Rajmahl hills in Bengal, 
put it is common in the Midnapore jungles. 

We may now venture on the great series of Indian Thrushes, which 
are as follow: 

Zoothera, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831, p. 172. 

1. Z. monticola, Vigors, ibid. ; Gould’s ‘Century,’ pl. XXII. The 
figure cited of this bird is faulty, making the body appear much too 
large; the legs and toes are also represented too stout and ferrene in 
their character ; and even the beak is incorrectly drawn, being too deep 
at base, instead of the culmen rising from the base and becoming 
deepest about the middle. In the young, the bill is not longer than 
that of an ordinary Thrush, but there are indications of its future form ; 
and the plumage of the nestling much resembles the corresponding garb 
of an English Blackbird. In fact, the Zoothera is merely a stout Thrush 
allied to the Oreocincle of Gould, with a strangely overgrown bill; but 
this could never be inferred from Gould’s figure of it. A specimen 
from Arracan is perhaps distinct, or it may be only the ordinary female : 
it differs from several Darjeeling specimens (males ?) in its rather smaller 
size and less developed bill, in the olive-brown hue of its whole upper- 
parts, in having a distinct whitish loral streak and much intermixture 
of the same upon the ear-coverts, and in the feathers of the under-parts 
being whitish with a broad olive-coloured border, surrounding the fea- 
ther more or less according to the part. Inhabits the Himalaya; and 


1847.) or Little Known Species of Birds. 141 


if that of the Arracan mountains prove identical, as is most probable, it 
may be expected to occur likewise in those of Assam, Munneepore, 
Sylhet, &c.* 

Oreocincla, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 145. The more characteristic 
species of this group make a very close approach to the preceding, 
insomuch that there is hardly any difference between the bill of the 
Arracan specimen of presumed Z. monticola above described, and that 
of a Neilgherry near ally to O. varia, except that in the latter the 
culmen scarcely ascends from the base, while in other specimens of 
Oreocincla it distinctly ascends. Again, O. macrorhyncha, Gould, 
(P. Z. S. 1835, p. 145), from New Zealand, is described to be nearly 
allied to O. varia, from which it differs ‘‘in the much larger size of the 
bill, and in the deeper black colouring of the margins of the feathers ;” 
so that it is even probable that the dividing line cannot be drawn 
between the two groups, especially as the black margins to the feathers 
of the upper-parts, which are especially characteristic of most of the 
Oreocincle, do not occur in all of them, as for example the species 
which I introduce next. 

2. O. molfissima, nobis, XI, 188: O. rostrata, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. 
N. H. 1845, p. 326. In some specimens of this bird, the beak appears 
abnormally grown out, and altogether coarser than in that which I 
originally described ; and Mr. Hodgson’s O. rostrata is founded upon 
an example of the kind: but I have recently examined a fine series of 
specimens, which has shewn their identity beyond a doubt. They com- 
monly measure from ten to eleven inches in total length; and some 
have the wing-coverts broadly tipped with pale fulvous of which no 
trace occurs in others. Common in the vicinity of Darjeeling. 

3. O. neilgherriensis, nobis, n. s. This species was originally sent 
me by Mr. Jerdon as the Turdus varius of his catalogue, which latter 
he has lately referred to O. dawma (Madr. Journ. No. XXXI, 127); 
but he has since obtained additional examples of the present species, 
which is conspicuously distinct from O. dawma. From the Javanese O. 


* A second specimen from Arracan accords with the above description, except that 
its size is fully equal to that of the Himalayan bird; its beak, however, being rather 
smaller. This disposes me to the opinion that it is distinct, in which case I propose 
for it the name Z. marginata. One or the other of these birds was procured by Dr, 
McClelland in Assam; apparently the Arracan species, to judge from the drawing. 


U 


142 Notices and Descriptions of various New (Fes. 


varia, it differs (judging both from recollection of Javanese specimens 
and from comparison with Dr. Horsfield’s figure,) in having much 
shorter and smaller tarsi. The plumage would, however, appear to 
be the same: and the beak is particularly long and coarse, having 
absolutely the character of Zoothera but little subdued. Length 
about ten inches, of wing five and a quarter, and tail three and a half; 
bill to gape an inch and a half, and tarse but an inch and one-eighth ; 
middle toe and claw one and a quarter: the first primary an inch and 
three-eighths, and the second three: eighths of an inch shorter than the 
third, fourth, and fifth, which are equal. From the Neilgherries. 

O. varia, (Horsfield,) Zin. Trans. XIII, 149; Zool. Res. in Java, 
with coloured figure. Malay countries. 

4. O. dauma,* (Lath.), Strickland, in epistold: Turdus Whitei, 
Eyton; O. parvirostris, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, p 136 (a small female). 
From the numerous specimens which I have seen, I feel convinced that 
Mr. Gould’s O. parvirostris may be referred as above. The species 
appears to be common in the Himalaya, and can hardly be considered 
rare in Lower Bengal during the cold season, when it is generally met 
with among bamboos. It also occurs in central and southern India: 
and, as a rare and accidental straggler, has been met with in South 
Britain and Ireland, and some other parts of the west of Europe. 
The beak of O. dauma is that of an ordinary Z'urdus, and its colour- 
ing only refers it to the present group. 

5. O. spiloptera, nobis, n. s. Length about eight inches and a half, 
of wing four inches, and tail three and a quarter: bill to gape above an 
inch, and tarse an inch and a quarter. Colour uniform rich olive- 
brown above, inclining to tawney ; below white, with black spots nearly 
resembling those of the Missel Thrush: middle of throat, lower abdo- 
men, vent and lower tail-coverts, spotless: wing-coverts black, mar- 
gined more or less with the hue of the back, and each conspicuously 
tipped with a pure white spot. Bill blackish, and very robust: the 
tarsi brown and slender. Inhabits Ceylon. 

Turdus, L., as restricted. 

6. 7. viscivorus, Lin. The European Missel Thrush is common 
in the N. W. Himalaya. 


* Intended for Dama, the Hindoostanee equivalent for Thrush. 


1847. ] or Little Known Species of Birds. 143 


7. T. atrogularis, Tem.: T. Naumanni apud nos, XI, 189: Rychild 
Thrush, Lath., the female. Common in the Himalaya, and I have also 
seen it from Tipperah. 

8. ZT. Naumanni, Tem. A very rare species in the Himalaya. The 
following appears to be the female. Length about eight inches and a 
half; of wing five inches, and tail three and a half; bill to gape an 
inch and one-eighth ; and tarse the same. Upper. parts ruddy-brown, 
the crown and ear-coverts dusky, with a whitish supercilium as in 7. 
éliacus ; throat and middle of belly white, the feathers of the sides of 
the throat marked with a dusky medial line, and the breast and flanks 
brown, with a pale margin to each feather; sides of the neck below 
the ear-coverts whitish ; the under-surface of the wing chiefly buff, with 
the fore-part and the axillaries ferruginous: bill yellow with dusky 
tip; and legs brown. From Chusan, where collected by Dr. Playfair, 
Surgeon of the Phlegethon War Steamer, and presented to the Society 
by Dr. McClelland. 

9. T. ruficollis, Pallas. Nearly allied to 7. atrogularis, from which 
it differs in having the fore-neck and breast, supercilium, fore-part of 
the under-surface of the wing, and the tail except partially at tip, fer- 
ruginous; lores, under the eye-streak, dusky; and under-parts below 
the breast white, a little sullied with light brown. In what appear 
to be the females, the throat is albescent, with rufous lines, and striz 
of dusky spots on each side; the eye-streak also is whitish; the ferru- 
ginous colour of the breast weaker, with pale terminal margins to the 
feathers ; and there is more dusky and less rufous on the tail. Bill 
dusky, with more or less yellow at the base of the mandibles, the lower 
being sometimes chiefly of this hue: and legs pale brown. Length 
about ten inches, of wing five to five and a half, and tail four inches; 
bill to gape an inch and one-eighth, and tarse one and a quarter. In- 
habits the Himalaya. 

T. javanicus, Horsfield, Lin. Tr. XIII, 148: Z. concolor, Tem., 
p.¢. Java. This and Oreocincla varia, are the only true Meruline 
species included in Dr. Horsfield’s long list of Javanese Turdi. 

10. 7. rufulus, Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat. X, 448: T. 
modestus, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 103. Length eight and a half to 
nine inches, of wing four and a half to five inches, and tail three and 
a quarter to three and a half; bill to gape an inch; and tarse one and 


144 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fes. 


a quarter. Upper-parts greenish olive-brown, with a dull whitish 
supercilium ; chin, and generally the medial portion of the throat, with 
the belly and lower tail-coverts, white; breast and flanks brownish- 
fulvous, brighter in old males; the throat and fore-neck streaked 
laterally with olivaceous, which in some specimens crosses the breast 
above the fulvous hue, and is more or less ashy ; others again, evidently 
the old males, have the entire crown and neck all round, of a dusky-ash 
colour, mingled with white on the middle of the throat. Bill dusky 
above, the basal two-thirds of the lower mandible yellow; and legs pale 
brown. The wings of this species are firm and acuminate, and the tail 
also is firm. It inhabits the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, from 
Arracan to the Straits of Malacca, becoming more numerous south- 
ward; and M. Drapiez mentions having received it from Java, where 
it is a periodical visitant, and named (as he informs us) Sériée. 

11. 7. unicolor, Tickell, J. A. S. I, 577 ; also of Gould, P. Z. S. 
1837, p. 186. Length about nine inches, of wing four inches and five- 
eighths, and tail three and a half; bill to gape above an inch; and tarse 
exceeding an inch and one-sixteenth. Colour uniform dark ashy above, 
paler below, and passing to white on the belly and lower tail-coverts ; 
a tinge of rufous on the fore-part of the wing underneath. Bill yellow ; 
and legs duller yellow. Capt. Tickell describes the female to be 
“‘dirty-grey, mixed on the back with olive, tinged on the head with 
brown. Wings and tail brownish; coverts of tail iron-grey ; breast 
isabella-grey, belly white.” What Mr. Gould describes as the young, 
appears to me to be the female of the next species : and he also states 
the bill and legs to be livid fuscous : the length of wing he gives, “‘ three 
inches and a quarter,” must be a misprint for five and a quarter ; though 
that would exceed, by more than half an inch, the length of wing of the 
only specimen before me. The species inhabits the Himalaya chiefly, 
but occurs sometimes in central India. 

12. T. dissimilis, nobis: T. unicolor et T. modestus, nobis, passim, 
as in XI, 460, &c.: Calcutta Thrush, Latham, the female. This 
bird, as well as the preceding one, is very closely allied to the suc- 
ceeding group, Geocichla ; and the mature male of the present spe- 
cies has the whole under-parts from the breast, except the medial line 
of the belly and the lower tail-coverts, which are pure white, of the 
same bright ferruginous colour as in G. citrinus, G. cyanotus, &c. 


1847. ] or Little Known Species of Birds. 145 


An approach to the same colouration is exhibited by old males of 
T. rufulus. The female, however, shews no sign of this except on 
the axillaries, and on more or less of the under-surface of the wing : 
yet, before obtaining the male, I had perceived the affinity of this 
species for the Geocichle ; and it is curious that I procured some 
eight or ten in the feminine plumage (whether all females, however, 
I cannot say, for some were only skins), before I succeeded in get- 
ting a male, which, as I all along suspected, proved to be clad in 
not quite so homely a garb as his mate. The male is, indeed, rather 
a handsome Thrush. Length nine inches, by fourteen and a quarter 
in spread of wing; closed wing four and a half; tail three and one- 
eighth ; bill to gape an inch and one-eighth; tarse the same. Colour 
of the upper-parts plain olive-brown in both sexes, with ashy beneath 
the surface of the feathers, tending a little to predominate about the 
rump; throat, middle of belly, and lower tail-coverts, white; the 
sides of the throat with dusky linear spots, more or less diffused, 
and some often appearing in the middle; breast light olive-brown, 
with a few dusky spots, sometimes small and triangular, sometimes 
larger and more linear; and the flanks spotless olive-brown in the 
female, and perhaps in the juvenescent male, but in the old male 
bright ferruginous, spreading to the white medial line of the abdo- 
men. Beak dusky, with generally some intermixture of yellow; and 
legs bright yellowish-brown. As in the Geocichle, the bill of a fresh 
specimen of this species is usually much clotted with mud; and the 
bird, like them, is mostly seen on the ground, hopping about among 
the underwood. It is not rare in Lower Bengal during the cold sea- 
son. Mr. Jerdon has lately obtained it in the south: and it often occurs 
in collections from the Himalaya. 

Geocichla, Kuhl. 

13. G. cyanotus, (Jardine and Selby), Jd. Orn., Ist series, pl. 
XLVI. Common in the Indian peninsula. 

14. G. cttrina, (Lath.): Turdus Macei, Vieillot; 7. lividus, Tickell, 
J. A. S. M1, 577 ; T. rubecula apud Horsfield, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 161. 
Bengal, Nepal, Assam, Arracan, Central India. A very common spe- 
cies. The young, received from Darjeeling, has the upper-parts dull 
olive, with a pale rufescent central streak to each feather; head and 
neck dull rufous, the feathers centred brighter, except towards the fore- 


146 Notices and Descriptions of various New (Fes. 


head ; under-parts light rufescent, deeper on the breast; and wings 
and tail as in the adult, but the feathers centred and margined with 
rufous. 

G. innotata, nobis, m. s. Resembles G. citrina, but has the fer- 
ruginous colour of the head and under-parts, and the ash-colour of its 
upper-parts, much more intense ; no white upon the wings; and the 
lower tail-coverts only (not the vent) are white. From the Malayan 
Peninsula. What I take to be two females of the same species, from 
the Nicobar Islands, have the throat white, and some white at the 
sides of the vent; the wings, rump, and tail, only, are deep ashy, the 
back and scapularies being olive-green, much as in the female of G. 
citrina. These are also smaller than the Malayan bird, the wing being 
but four inches, and the rest in proportion; whereas the Malayan (sup- 
posed) male has the wing four inches and a half. Should the Nicobar 
bird prove distinct, it might stand as G. albogularis, nobis. 

G. rubecula, Gould, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 7. It is not very clear, from 
Mr. Gould’s description of this Javanese species, in what it differs from 
G. citrina ; except that he states the tarse to be an inch and a half 
long, instead of one and a quarter, and that the tail is but two inches 
and a half, instead of three inches; but from the difference of locality, 
it will most likely prove to be distinct. Four well marked species of 
this group are, as Mr. Gould informs us, in the Zoological Society’s 
Museum ; and 7. rufovariegatus, Drapiez, Dict. Class. d’ Hist. Nat. 
X, 465, would seem to belong to it. 

Merula, Ray. 

15. M. Wardi, Jerdon, J. A. S. XI, 882; Jerdon’s Lil. Ind. Orn., 
pl. VIII. The bird described and figured as above, is the male. The 
female is very differently coloured, and a specimen was sent by Mr. 
Hodgson by the name Oreocincla? micropus. The Society has also 
since received a female from Southern India, and a male from Almorah ; 
so that all doubt is removed concerning the identity of the Himalayan 
bird with that of Travancore, &c. The sexes of this species present the 
usual diversity observable in most of the black Merles, (as the Bri- 
tish M. vulgaris, &c.), only somewhat further carried out; and 
this particular difference of the sexes confirms the propriety of its 
allocation in Merula, which group, as I formerly remarked, it tends to 
connect with Oreocincla. The male is black, with white eye-streak 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 147 


and under-parts from the breast, except the feathers of the flanks 
which are only margined with white; and, besides a white wing-patch 
under the scapularies, the wing-coverts and tertiaries are tipped with 
the same, and the secondaries and middle tail-feathers, with the upper 
tail-coverts, more slightly, the rest of the tail-feathers being succes- 
sively more deeply so tipped, increasing in amount to the outermost. 
The female has the upper-parts brown instead of black, with slight 
whitish tips to the upper tail-coverts, and less white on the tail-feathers, 
which is also less pure; the wing-coverts are each tipped with a 
triangular spot of fulvous-white, and the tertiaries more slightly ; the 
supercilium is also fulvous-white, and the entire under-parts, except 
the lower tail-coverts which are purer white, a little variegated with 
dusky; while the feathers of the throat, breast, and flanks, are each 
tipped with a transverse dusky spot, more or less triangular on those 
‘of the breast ; axillaries chiefly pure white: bill and legs yellowish. In 
fact, if we except the eye-streak and the mottlings of the wings and 
tail, and also its smaller size, the female of this species resembles a 
good deal a pale and spotted-breasted hen English Blackbird. It seems 
to be far from being a common species in this country, though met 
with from the Himalaya to Travancore. 

16. M. boulboul; Lanius boulboul, Lath.: Turdus pecilopterus, 
Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 54; Gould’s Century, pl. XIV. The black 
of this species is never so uniformly deep as in the European Black- 
bird, the under-parts of the old male being more or less brownish: iu 
younger males, there is also a brown tinge above; the rump and upper 
tail-coverts incline to ashy, and the lower-parts may be termed fuscous- 
brown :- the wing-mark, too, is more albescent in old birds, thus con- 
trasting stronger with the black of the rest of the plumage; while in 
younger specimens it is much browner. The brown colour of the 
females is more uniform than is represented on Gould’s plate, and the 
wing-mark is certainly never of the decided rufous hue which is there 
laid on, having but a faint rufescent tinge, with the margins of the 
outer coverts dull albescent to a greater or less extent. In the spotted 
nestling garb, the sexes are already easily distinguishable, from the much 
darker tone of colouring in the males: besides that, in all the Thrush 
tribe, the great alars and caudals first put forth resemble in colouring, 
size, and firm texture, those of the adults, being not shed at the first 


148 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fes. 


moult. This is the common Himalayan Blackbird of the lower ranges, 
or what is termed the sub-Himalayan region. 

17. M. albocincta, (Royle) ; figured by the name albicollis on Royle’s 
plate, which name was previously applied by Vieillot to a Brazilian 
species: Zurdus collaris, Sorel, Rev. Zool., 1840, p. 2. Size and pro- 
portions of the last species: the male black, tinged with brown under- 
neath; throat and fore-neck white, surrounding the ear-coverts, and 
forming a broad collar round the neck : bill yellow, with dusky tip; and 
legs yellowish. Female brown, paler below; the collar greyish-brown, 
and throat white with some dusky spots, and a line of the same from 
the corner of the lower mandible. The White-collared Blackbird is 
confined to a greater elevation on the Himalaya than the preceding 
species. 

18. M. nigropileus, (de la Fresnaye); described in M. Adolphe 
Delessert’s Souvenirs d’un Voyage de Inde, Pt. II, p. 27. Length 
about ten inches, of wing five, and tail four; bill to gape an inch 
and a quarter, and to forehead an inch; and tarse an inch and three- 
sixteenths. Cap, including lores and cheeks, black ; chin washed with 
the same: the back and rump, wings, and tail, dark fuscous-ashy, tinged 
with brown on the interscapularies : the neck all round, and the under- 
parts, ashy-brown, paler on the belly, and passing to white at the 
vent: under tail-coverts mingled white and ashy: bill, and apparently 
round the eye, yellow; and legs yellowish-brown. Female altogether 
paler, the white of the vent spreading over much of the abdominal 
region, and the cap dusky-brown instead of black. Inhabits the 
Neilgherries, and is occasionally met with on the eastern ghats. 

19. M. brachypus, nobis: Black-crowned Thrush, Latham, from 
Ceylon. This bird is almost exactly similar to the female of the last, 
except that the dark cap is less pronounced, and the abdominal region 
and under tail-coverts are merely pale: but the tarse is remarkably 
short, not exceeding an inch; and the tail is perfectly squared, whilst 
in M. nigropilea its outermost feathers are three-eighths of an inch 
shorter than the middle ones. These two characters are so marked 
that I have no doubt of its distinctness. It was obtained, I believe, in 
the Neilgherries, by Mr. Jerdon. 

20. M. simillima, (Jerdon), Madr. Journ. No. XXV, 253. Sinudlir 
than the English Blackbird, with longer bill, and yellow legs: the 


1847, ] or Little Known Species of Birds. 149 


black of the male much less deep, and tinged with ashy ; and the lower- 
parts paler and brownish. Female paler and browner, as usual, passing 
to ashy on the rump and upper tail-coverts, and with the lower- 
parts still lighter-coloured. Proportions of M. nigropileus, but the 
tail-feathers broader and considerably less firm towards their tips; the 
beak is also conspicuously longer, measuring to gape an inch and three- 
eighths: and the colouring is much the same as in WM. nigropileus, but 
the contrasting ashy and brown are softened down almost to homoge- 
neity. Inhabits the Neilgherries; being the species referred by some 
authors to the European Blackbird, which it resembles in its song: the 
latter species is common in Afghanistan. 

21. M. castanea, Gould, P. Z. S. 1835, p. 185. Length about 
eleven inches, of wing five and a half, and tail four inches ; bill to gape 
one and a quarter, and tarse the same. Colour a bay-chesnut, darkening 
on the interscapularies, and paler below; the head and neck grey, darker 
on the crown, and albescent. on the throat and fore-neck ; wings dusky, 
the tertiaries partly margined with brown ; and the tail blackish, its lower 
coverts mingled deep black and white: bill yellow, and legs yellowish. 
The female has all the colours less intense, the wings and tail brown, 
and the lower tail-coverts mingled brown and white: bill chiefly dusky. 
Himalaya. This species is nearly allied to M. albocincta. 

22. M. leucogaster, nobis, 2. s. 1 only know this from a well executed 
drawing prepared by the late Dr. Griffith, during his journey from 
Assam to Ava, and now in the possession of Dr. McClelland: there 
can be no doubt of its distinctness as a species. Colour slaty-black, 
the lores, throat, fore-neck, and breast, deep black, and the belly dull 
white. Length about nine inches and a half, of wing five and a 
quarter, and tail above four inches ; bill to gape an inch and a quarter, 
and tarse the same. 

Petrocincla, Vigors. Rock Thrushes. 

23. P. erythrogastra, (Vigors), P. Z. S. 1831, p. 1713; Gould’s 
‘Century,’ pl. XII1: P. rufiventris,* Jardine and Selby, Ll. Orn., Ist 
series, pl. CXXIX. The two figures here cited shew what different 
representations may be made of the same species, provided the true 


* There is also a Turdus rufiventris, Vieillot, from Brazil. 


150 Notices and Descriptions of various New (Fes. 


colouring be not rigorously adhered to: thus Mr. Gould has coloured 
it with a black throat and fore-neck, adding a slight gloss of blue ; and 
the other naturalists cited have coloured these parts entirely blue, with 
a white margin separating them from the blue of the rest of the neck. 
Now the true colouring of the throat and fore-neck is a dull blue, with 
occasionally a medial rufous patch on the latter, and the feathers being 
margined with pale greyish; the latter accounts for the white border as- 
signed by Sir W. Jardine and Mr. Selby: again, the latter naturalists 
have coloured the tail much too blue, and have also exaggerated the 
edgings of the wing-feathers, which edging might indeed be erased 
altogether: the back, too, should have been rendered much darker and 
more dingy than the head and rump, which, with the shoulder of the wing, 
are alone bright blue; and the lores, ear-coverts, and sides of the neck, 
are black, contrasting with the blue of the crown, and passing into the 
dusky- bluish of the fore-neck. The females vary a good deal, but have 
always a much greater admixture of black on the lower-parts and sides 
of the throat, than is shewn in Gould’s figure of this sex; the ground 
hue is often, but not always, much more rufous; and though there is 
generally a pale mesial space on the throat and fore-neck, even this is 
in some specimens wholly variegated with the black margins to the 
feathers. The sexes of the young are conspicuously different in the 
nestling plumage, from the young males having the wings and tail blue, 
which in the females are brown, as in the adults respectively ; and the 
pale central spots to the clothing plumage are also much more rufes- 
cent in the young males, and albescent in the young females. Common 
in the Himalaya. 

24. P. longirostris, nobis, n. s. This species I only know from a 
female, presented to the Society by Captain Boys, who procured it on 
the march from Scinde to Ferozepore. It is remarkable for the length 
of its bill, and for the pale greyish colour of its upper-parts, which 
would indicate that the blue of the male is considerably paler than in 
the three following species. Length about eight inches and a half, of 
wing four and a quarter, and tail three and a quarter; bill to gape an 
inch and three-eighths, and tarse an inch. Upper-parts light brown- 
ish-grey, browner on the wings, and greyer on the tail; the lower-parts 
pale fulvescent-grey, obscurely marked with dusky ; bill blackish, and 


1847, | or Little Known Species of Birds. rol 


legs brown. Very distinct from the females of the three following 
species.* 

25. P. affinis, nobis, XII, 177 (bis). Rare at Darjeeling; but 
common along the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, from Tipperah 
and Arracan to the Tenasserim Provinces. The males of this species 
have generally some intermixture of rufous about the vent and lower 
tail-coverts, varying in quantity, but seldom nearly so much as in P. 
manillensis ; whereas in P. pandoo, I believe there is never a trace 
of this rufous.t The females are altogether bluer than those of P. 
pandoo, especially on the upper-parts ; and the under-parts, the feathers 
of which are margined with black as in the rest of the group, have the 
ground-tint more or less rufescent. It is decidedly a distinct species 
from the next. 

26. P. pandoo, Sykes, the male; P. maal, Sykes, the female: Z’urdus 
solitarius, var. A, Latham. Inhabits central, western, and southern 
India. The general plumage of this species is always less distinctly 
mottled than that of the preceding one, both above and below ; this 
distinction being very obvious when several specimens of both are seen 
together: and in P. manillensis the feathers are much more mottled 
than in P, affinis. I allude to the margining of the feathers, which 
have subterminal blackish bars, edged with whitish; but which in 
P. pandoo are so slight as to be scarcely noticeable, while in P. manil- 
lensis they may be said to ocellate the whole plumage more or less, 
and in P. affinis they are constantly intermediate. P. manillensis is 
also of a lighter blue than the two others. 

P. manillensis, (Gm.) Inhabits the Philippines and China. The male 
of this species appears to have constantly the whole abdominal region 
deep rufo-ferruginous, the feathers margined as above described ; and 
the female has the pale rufescent hue of the lower-parts more predo- 
minant, with a slighter dusky margin to each feather: tail perfectly 


* Can this be P. cyanea of Europe? Lord A. Hay has procured a species in 
Kashmir, which he thinks is the European one; and various other European birds occur 
there, as Corvus monedula and Coracias garrula, which (as his lordship informs me) 
abound in the valley of Kashmir. 

¢ A Tenasserim specimen just received has much more rufous on the abdomen than 
I ever observed before in P. affinis ; but its distinctness from P. manillensis is never- 
theless obvious. ‘This bird likewise inhabits Assam ; and the Society has just received 
a specimen of it from Goalpara. 


152 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Frs. 


squared ; whereas in P. pandoo the outermost rectrices are a trifle 
shorter than the rest, and in P. affinis they are a good deal shorter, 
the penultimate and ante-penultimate also graduating. 

Monticola, Brehm: Petrophila, Swainson ; Orocetes, G. R. Gray. 

27. M. cinclorhyncha, (Vigors): O. ecyanocephala, Swainson : 
Black-collared Thrush, var. A, Latham. The members of this group 
are of a shorter make, and more Chat-like, than those of the preced- 
ing one, with greater variegation in the colouring. The Indian spe- 
cies is perfectly true to the type of the European 2. saxatilis, which 
is the standard of the division. In this bird the sexes, as I have been 
informed, resemble each other ; but such is not always the case, for a 
female in the Society’s collection is very similar to the female of J. 
saxatilis, though differing of course in not having the tail rufous, nor 
the indication of the white mark on the croup of the male ™. sazatilis, 
as also in its under-parts being less rufescent. In both species, the 
female plumage is of the same general character as in the female Pe- 
trocincle. The young also are similarly much spotted with pale ful- 
vescent; the young males of M. cinclorhyncha being distinguished 
from the other sex by possessing the white spot upon the wing, the 
same as in the sexes of the Stone Chat ( Pratincola rubicola), while 
also in nestling plumage. The present species is a hill—but not a 
rock—bird, frequenting the tops of trees in the forests: and it extends 
its range to all India in suitable localities ; being met with occasionally, 
but rarely, in the plains during the seasons of passage, at which period 
(that of vernal migration) I once obtained one in the vicinity of Cal- 
cutta, which I kept for some time alive. Its song is sweet, plaintive, 
and tolerably loud ; delivered in the manner of a Robin’s song: and its 
manners are very like those of a Stone Chat. 

The Turdus eremita, Gm., founded on le Merle solitaire de Manille 
of Buffon, would seem to be the female of a species of this division, 
and not (as I suggested in XII, 182,) that of Petrocincla manillensis, 
both sexes of which are figured in the Planches Einluminées. 

From the Thrushes, we may pass to the Myiotherine birds of Swain- 
son, leading to his Thamnophiline: a great series of forms, more 
especially developed in South America. In India, we have 

Cinclus, Bechst. The Dippers. One species, confined to the Hima- 
Jayan torrents, and which was originally discovered in the Krimea,—C. 


1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 153 


Pallasii, Tem., figured in Gould’s ‘Century.’ Allied to this is C. ameri- 
canus, Say, of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Of the third 
and well known European species, C’. aguaticus, found also in Western 
Asia, Mr. Yarrell states that the sexes are alike in plumage; but in 
specimens of this bird in the Society's Museum, from England and 
Norway, there is a very marked sexual diversity, such as described in 
Fleming’s ‘ British Animals.’ | 
Brachyurus, Thunberg: Pitta, Vieillot. There are at least four 
marked sub-groups comprehended under this genus, as follow:—1. Pa- 
ludicola, Hodgson; a name pre-occupied for a genus of reptiles. To 
this must be referred Myiothera cerulea, Rafiles, v. Pitta gigas, Tem., 
from Malacca and Sumatra: and Pal. nipalensis, Hodgson, from Nepal, 
Darjeeling, and Arracan.—2. The group exemplified by Myiothera 
affinis, Horsf., v. Pitta cyanura, Tem.; to which, as an aberrant 
species, may be referred P. cyanea, nobis, XII, 1008, from Arracan 
and Tenasserim. The affinity of these two species is more obvious in 
the female sex. Fine specimens of Br. cyaneus are more brilliant than 
those formerly described from, each feather of the breast and belly 
being of a beautiful light blue, with a round subterminal black spot 
and bars above this. The female is blue only on the tail, but with 
an admixture of this hue on the dull greenish back.—3. The form of 
P. granatina, Tem., v. coccinea, Eyton: with very long tarse, short 
wings, &c.—4. The ordinary Brachyuri, of which three species are 
admissable into the Fauna Indica: viz. Br. triostegus, (Sparrman), 
v. malaccensis,* (Scop.), v. superciliaris, (Wagler, after Sonnerat, Voy. 
aux Indes Orient., pl. 110), also abdominalis, (Wagler, after Edwards, 
pl. 324), and Pitta brachyura apud Vigors, Gould, and others, which 
name applies to an allied species from the Philippines. This is the com- 
mon Indian species, and the only one found generally over the country 
from the Himalaya to Ceylon, and which is occasionally to be obtained 
near Calcutta, as inthe Botanic Garden ; but I have never seen it from 
the eastward of the Bay of Bengal.— Br. cyanopterus, (Tem.), v. ma- 
laccensis apud nos, XII, 960: common in the countries eastward of the 
Bay, from Arracan to Malacca:—and Br. cucullatus, (Hartlaub), v. 


* This specific name has the priority; but as the bird does not inhabit the Malayan 
Peninsula, it is a misnomer that cannot be retained. To Mr. Strickland I am indebted 
for several of the above cited synonymes. 


154 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fxs. 


nigricollis, nobis, XII, 960, and rodogaster, Hodg., zbid. (the young) : 
found in Nepal and Assam, as well as in the vicinity of the Straits. 

Myiophonus, Tem. ‘Two Indian species, both figured in Gould’s 
‘Century of Himalayan birds. M. Temminckii is indeed common 
throughout the Himalaya, frequenting the beds of streams in the lower 
ranges ; and its musical whistle (according to Mr. Vigne,) is the sweet- 
est note heard in the hills: but M. Horsfieldi is confined exclusively to 
the mountainous parts of Southern India. Two other species occur in 
Java, M. cyaneus, (Horsfield), v. glaucinus, Tem.; and M. flaviros- 
tris, (Horsfield), v. metallicus, Tem. A fifth would seem to exist in de 
Merle bleu de la Chine of Sonnerat, v. Gracula cerulea, Scop., and 
Turdus violaceus, Lath. Mr. Swainson also mentions M. nitidus, Gray ; 
but this is probably one of the two Indian species already referred to. 

The great series of South American Myiotheriné seems to grade 
completely into the Zhamnophiline or Bush Shrikes of Swainson, in- 
habiting the same regions ; but presents some forms which certainly 
approximate the Brachyurt of the Old World and Australia; and 
others again grade into the Wrens ( Troglodytes), also chiefly an 
American group, but which comprises a few Old World species, among 
which are two from the Himalaya described in XIV, 589. I now add 
a very distinct form, by the name | 

Rimator, nobis. The species upon which this division is founded is 
a very curious little Myiotherine bird, the immediate affinities of which 
are not obvious. Bill longer than the head, compressed, a little incurv- 
ed, the curvature increasing to the tip where the extremity of the upper 
mandible passes and bends over that of the lower one, but without any 
well defined emargination ; culmen rounded for the terminal two-thirds 
or more, but becoming angulated towards the base; and the tomie but 
little inflected: the nostrils pierced in an ovate basal membrane, their 
aperture being a little removed from the base of the bill: gape extend- 
ing to beneath the fore-part of the eye, and unarmed, or having but a 
few short and inconspicuous hairs: legs moderately strong, suited for 
progression either upon the ground, or up the slanting bough of a tree; 
the tarse nearly as long as the middle toe with its claw, and hav- 
ing four long scute to the front, and two shorter ones below: toes 
rather long, the outer a trifle more so than the inner, and reaching 
to the base of the claw of the mid-toe : claws not much curved, that of the 


1847. ] or Little Known Species of Birds. 155 


hind-toe large, being twice the size of the middle front-claw. Wings 
much bowed and rounded, the first primary reaching to but half the 
length of the fifth, which equals the two next, and a little exceeds the 
fourth and eighth. The tail short and weak, its feathers slender and 
flexible, with soft tips a little pointed. Plumage lax, being excessively 
so and very copious over the rump. 

R. malacoptilus, nobis. Length five inches, of which the tail mea- 
sures one and a quarter, and the bill to forehead an inch; wing two 
inches-and a quarter; tarse seven-eighths; and long hind-claw about 
three-eighths. Colour of the upper-parts deep brown, with pale shafts 
to the feathers, forming a central streak on those of the nape and 
back ; scapularies and interscapularies black on the inner web, and 
brown on the outer; the mass of loose feathers on the rump brown, 
with light shafts more or less apparent; and the tail and large wing- 
feathers uniform deep brown with a slight ruddy tinge: under-parts 
pale brown, lightest on the middle of the breast and on the throat, 
and becoming whitish towards the chin; a black streak borders each 
side of the throat, which has also a few dusky specks; and the breast- 
feathers generally are margined, the lateral more broadly, with olive, 
which colour prevails and is tinged with ferruginous on the flanks ; the 
lower tail-coverts being dark ferruginous. Bill dark horny, mingled 
with whitish; and legs light brown. From Darjeeling. 

Another very distinct genus of the great Myiotherine series appears 
to me to exist in 

Enicurus, Temminck. At least eight species may be enumerated, 
four pertaining to the Malayan fauna, and four to that of India.* 

1. EB. ruficapillus, Tem.: Turdus avensis (?), Gray, figured from 
a bad native drawing in Griffith’s ‘ Animal Kingdom,’ VI, 530. Inhabits 
Java. This fine species, while pre-eminently typical of its group, 
strongly exhibits in the form of its bill, and in the rufous colouring of 
its head and nape, the Myiotherine affinities of the genus, upon compar- 
ing it with such birds as the Formicarius cayennensis (Bodd.), v. 
Myiocincla colma, Swainson, &c. The bill is considerably longer and 
more slender than in the figure cited in Griffith’s ‘ Animal Kingdom,’ 


* Motacilla maderaspatana (nec madaraspatensis) of Latham is probably a 
ninth species. It is remarkable that none has hitherto been observed in the south of 
India. 


156 Notices and Descriptions of various New [Fes 


with the upper mandible conspicuously hooked over at tip: much as in 
Cinclus, minus the hook and nareal orifices; and it is also the same 
form of bill which reappears in that very curious Malayan bird, the 
Eupetes macrocercus of Temminck. From the figure referred to, it differs 
in the white of the face being confined to a frontal crescent, each horn 
of which reaches to above the middle of the eye; in having narrow 
white tips to the tertiaries ; and a forked tail of moderate length, with 
its two outer feathers on each side wholly white: the rufous of the nape 
should also spread a little lower down; the black of the fore-neck not 
so far; and beneath this, the pectoral feathers are each margined with 
black, as rudely represented in the figure of Zurdus avensis. Length 
of wing three inches and a half; of outer tail-feathers three inches ; bill 
to forehead above three-quarters ; and of tarse an inch. It is a pecu- 
liarly interesting species, as indicating, more than either of the others, 
the affinities of its group. 

2. E. diadematus, Tem. Of this species, from the mountainous 
interior of Sumatra, I have no description. It is probably identical 
with the only species I have yet seen from the Malayan peninsula, and 
which is remarkable for a triangular frontal crest of white feathers, 
evidently erectile, and those forming the apex being longer than the 
black coronal feathers they impend. Rest of the plumage black, with 
white lower abdomen, wing-band, rump, and two outermost tail-feathers 
on each side, the other tail-feathers white-tipped. Dimensions as in the 
preceding species: the young having the frontal crest much pecnerd 
If distinct and new, EZ. frontalis, nobis. 

3. FH. speciosus, (Horsfield): &. coronatus, Tem. Inhabits Java. 

4. E. velatus, Tem. Inhabits Java. 

5. &. maculatus, Vigors; figured in Gould’s ‘Century’: &. fuligi- 
nosus, Hodgson, As. Res. XIX, 190 (the young). A specimen for- 
warded to the Society’s Museum by Mr. Hodgson with the latter 
name, I consider to be decidedly the immature dress of the present 
species: differing from the adult in the flimsy texture of its clothing 
plumage, in having the dark portion of its upper-parts spotless fuligin- 
ous-brown, with indistinct pale mesial lines, passing into white on the 
belly: wings as in the adult; tail wanting in the specimen. 2. macu- 
latus appears to be a very common Himalayan species, and occurs 
rarely in Arracan., 


1847. ] or Little Known Species of Birds. 157 


6. E. immaculatus, Hodgson, As. Fees. XIX, 190. This resembles 
the next species, except in having the upper-parts deep black, where 
the other is slaty, and the tail seems to be constantly shorter ; its outer- 
most feathers not exceeding four inches and three-quarters in any that 
I have seen, whereas those of E. schistaceus measure commonly five 
inches and a half. A very rare species in Nepal; but common in 
Arracan. 

7. E. schistaceus, Hodgson, As. Res XIX, 191. A common species 
in the eastern Himalaya, and found likewise in the Tenasserim pro- 
vinces. * 

8. E. Scouleri, Vigors; figured in Gould’s ‘Century’. Himalaya ; 
rarer to the westward. Remarkable for the shortness of its bill, and 
for having the tail scarcely furcate. 


( To be continued. ) 


Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. A logical Treatise, trans- 
lated from the Sanscrit, by EK. Rorr. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In the following introduction to a translation of the Bhasha Parichéda, 
one of the most celebrated works of the Nyaya philosophy, it has been 
my endeavour to subject the logic of the Nyaya, as well as the leading 
ideas of this and the Vaishéshika systems, to a critical review, in order 
to bring the discussion about the merits of the philosophical researches 
of the Hindus more to a point. Colebrooke’s exposition of the Nyaya 
and Vaishéshika systems, though founded on the ablest and most exact 
researches, as well in a philosophical as in a critical point of view, does 


* It is probably Dr. W. Jameson’s supposed new species, noticed in Calc. Journ. 
Nat Hist. 1846, p. 360. 1 doubt whether many of that gentleman’s Thibetan animals 
will prove so new as he imagines: e. g. his Marmot (p. 361), and the Lagomys (?) 
mentioned with it, &c. &c. ‘The large Hare is doubtless Z. oistolus (v. tibetanus) : 
and I can already pronounce Ovis ammon to be distinct from O. montana. 


¥Y, 


158 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [FEB. 


not suffice for this purpose, as it is a mere abstract from the works of 
those schools, and does not enter upon the discussion of the position 
they are to hold as systems of philosophy. 

It is perhaps not impossible to write a history of Indian philosophy, 
if it be limited to the task of tracing the gradual development of philo- 
sophical principles and modes of thinking, without reference to a strict 
chronological order; but as yet many more materials are required to 
complete a work, beset with so many difficulties. At the same time we 
must admit, that even in this attempt, with more ample materials, we 
can only partially succeed. The doctrines even of those who are consi- 
dered as the founders of the different schools, bear the marks of a far ad- 
vanced progress in systematical discussion, and must therefore have been 
the result of a long series of preceding philosophical enquiries. Hence 
it would be preposterous to expect, that we should be able to discover 
the first steps of their researches. We cannot, however, deem this a very 
great loss, as we have the first philosophical attempts of the Greeks, and 
we may safely affirm, that a great similarity must have obtained between 
both of them. We, however, decline here embarking upon any historical 
_research, believing, that under the present circumstances, it is more 
important to place an original work of Hindu philosophy before the 
public, and to examine the principles under which it has been con- 
structed. For this end we consider the Nyaya in that shape, which it 
has acquired by its amalgamation with the doctrines of the Vaishéshikas, 
since we are of Colebrooke’s opinion, that both sprang from the same 
root, and are but branches of the same school ; the one being directed 
more to the explanation of material, the other of logical forms.* Or to 
state it more exactly,—to the Nyaya belong the logical doctrines of the 
forms of syllogisms, terms and propositions; to the Vaishéshika the 
systematical explanation of the categories (the simplest metaphysical 
ideas) of the metaphysical, physical, and psychical notions, which 
notions are hardly touched upon in Gotitama’s (the supposed founder of 
the Nyaya) Sutras. They differ in their statement of the several modes 
of proof; the Nydya asserting four modes of proof—from perception, 
inference, analogy, and verbal communication ; the Vaishéshika admitting 
only the two first ones. 


* Vid. ‘Colebrooke’s Miscell. Essays,’ Vol. i. p. 261. 


1847. ] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 159 


The name of logic, usually applied to the Nydya, does not correctly 
define it. It does not treat of the theory of syllogisms and the notions 
connected with them, as its direct object, but only as a component part 
of its investigation. It rather aspires to the distinction of giving a 
complete system of philosophy, based upon the most elementary meta- 
physical notions, and the division dedicated to the explanation of syl- 
logistical forms, is not even more explicitly treated than other parts of 
the system. To call the Nyaya logic, would be the same as to assign 
this name to the philosophy of Aristotle. There is no doubt, however, 
that the Nyaya has first among the philosophical systems of the Hindus 
examined the art of reasoning, and shaped it into its present form. This 
is generally acknowledged, and it has gained by this such ascendancy 
among the learned Hindus, that all of them refer to it as to their stan- 
dard in logic, and however they may deviate from other doctrines of the 
Nyaya, they deem its study necessary for the purpose of giving a firm 
basis to their reasoning. 

It is indeed one of the principal merits of the Nydya, that its progress 
is marked by an admirably exact division of the topics, discussed in it, 
and in this respect it is not only superior to all other systems of the 
Hindus, but even modern philosophy might, with advantage, study. 
it on account of its clearness and exactness. Though none of its inves- 
tigations have been carried on to a satisfactory end, the Nyaya has, with 
the means at its command, fully described the circle within which it 
moved. We must at the same time bear in mind, that notwithstanding 
its exactness, there is one inherent fault in its exposition, viz. the neg- 
lect of all analytical method, a fault of all systems of the Hindus, which 
has perhaps, more than any thing else, contributed to the narrow limits 
of their mental horizon. This fault, however, it shares with many 
other expositions of philosophy; for instance, to mention a celebrated 
name, with Spinoza’s system. It is a fault rather of exposition than of 
the system itself. No synthesis (in science) is possible without analysis, 
and having well understood the leading notions of a system, we can 
easily trace the analytical way by which they were obtained. This ab- 
sence of analysis in the construction of the philosophical systems of the 
Hindus is the reason why so many enquirers have done injustice to their 
philosophical talent. For want of a clear analysis, unable to understand 
the aphorisms of the Hindu schools, composed in a language as well in 


160 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. (Fre. 


form as in thought, foreign to them, they thought the philosophical 
productions of many centuries and of an ingenious people; a web of 
either abstruse or puerile notions. On a closer examination we shall 
come to a juster opinion of them, and although we find a limit as well in 
the range as the depth of their enquiries, we shall come to place them 
among the nations which advanced the intellectual progress of mankind. 

That Hindu philosophy will, however, have any influence upon the 
development of European philosophy and mediately of European civiliza- 
tion, must be denied. Why should this be the case ? Although we must 
admit, that the philosophical results of the Hindus are as worthy of at- 
tention as those of the Greeks, still it is at the first glance evident, that 
the works of the Hindus are unfit to be transferred to another soil, while 
those of the Greeks will have always the same influence upon every 
rising generation in every clime and age. This difference, however, 
lies not so much in the development of the system as in theform. You 
are compelled to think by reading the works of the Greeks, they intro- 
duce you into the process of their thoughts, and by this, force you to 
accompany them with your own thoughts, until you arrive as it were by 
your own mind at the principles of their systems, from which point it is 
easy either to look back upon the way you have made or to advance 
further. The Hindus, on the other hand, are dogmatical; it is im- 
possible for any one to understand their writings who has not previous- 
ly, to a considerable degree, been practised in philosophical enquiries. 
Thus the want of interest felt in the study of their writings, is the 
punishment of mystery and exclusion. The same doctrines which might 
have been instrumental in enlightening thousands, are now forgotten, 
or in the possession of a few who are hardly able to comprehend them. 

Among the general metaphysical notions, the notion of substance is 
the most important one, as upon it all other notions are either founded 
or are closely connected with it, and whatever may be the solution of 
all other metaphysical problems, they must be influenced by the notion 
of substance. 

Substances are, according to the Nyaya, the substrata of qualities and 
actions, a definition, which is the right one, as the basis of further inves- 
tigation—it is the right one, because founded on experience. Substance, 
we add, is in so far the substratum of qualities and actions, as the 
existence of qualities and actions depends upon the existence of sub- 


1847.] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 161 


stance; if quality were independent of another, it could not represent 
another, whose quality it is. The existence of substance must therefore 
be absolute, that is to say, not dependent upon the existence of 
another ; for in this case, it would not be comprehended by the notion of 
substance, but by that of quality. And consequently, to think the idea 
of substance by any notions including dependance, is a contradiction. 
This contradiction (of comprehending substance under the notion of 
quality, and therefore) was committed by the Nyaya by its distinction 
between eternal and non-eternal substances, because the existence of 
the latter is not independent. In the notion of eternal substance, how- 
ever, the true notion of substance is included, which is to be independent 
of time and cause. 

Another question is, how a substance is united with its qualities? 
That a substance should have qualities, appears a matter of course, and 
to question it, shows a vast progress in metaphysical thinking. Al- 
though the Nyaya entered not expressly into the discussion of this sub- 
ject, it must have felt its weight, as they found it necessary to invent a 
contrivance for such a connexion. A substance is, according to them, 
united with its qualities by a relation, called intimate union, which is 
something real, and is neither in substances, nor qualities, nor actions. 
We do not intend here to analyze this notion any further (stating, how- 
ever, that the difficulty is not really removed by it,) but we turn toa 
third point in the notion of substance. Substance, according to the 
Nyaya, is not only united with its qualities by the relation, just mention- 
ed, but all substances are united with the general notion of substance, 
and single substances in the same way with the notion of their own 
class, This general notion rather is a common property; for it does 
exist, independent of the mind, in the substances (also in qualities and 
actions) themselves, and is even eternal in eternal substances, not eter- 
nal in transient substances. This notion exactly corresponds with that 
of the so-called realists among the scholastic philosophers, who main- 
tained the reality of general notions. Duns Scotus, for instance, asserted, 
that general properties (notions) were not only in objects potentia, but 
acta, and that generality was not only formed by the understanding, 
but that it existed previously to the mental conception per se as a reality, 
viz., The quiddity itself, which was indifferent to general or individual 
existence. A cause, however, was required to remove this indifference, 


162 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. (Fes. 


viz. Another more extensive quiddity, closely united with the first, and 
with the principle of inviduity (afterwards called haecceity).* Substances, 
as before said, according to the Nyaya, are either eternal or non-eternal. 
Eternal are space, time, ether, soul, and the atoms of mind, earth, water, 
fire, and air. Non-eternal are all compounds, or the things which we 
actually perceive, and which must have a cause of their existence. Thus 
substances are divided into those which are without cause, and those 
which have a cause. | 

There are three causes;—1. The cause of aggregation, or material 
cause, as yarn is the material cause of cloth ;—2. The proximate cause, 
or the actual union of the parts which are to form a compound ;—and 
3. The instrumental cause, viz. the cause by which this union is effected. 

This is similar to the doctrine of Aristotle, who admitted four causes; 
a material cause, a moving cause, a formal cause, and an end cause. 
The instrumental cause includes Aristotle’s formal, moving, and end 
causes. 

The notion of causality is certainly well considered, and infinitely su- 
perior to the notions which other Indian systems formed of it; for there 
are already made some steps in advance towards the proper discussion 
of this notion, if a difference in causes is acknowledged. In the enume- 
ration of causes—the cause of motion appears to have been omitted : it 
is, however, contained in the notion of instrumental causality. All ac- 
tivity according to the Nyaya is limited to movement, acts of the mind 
being considered by them as qualities, and as all actions abide in sub- 
stances, we must consider every substance as a cause of motion. They 
did not, however discuss, whether motion was necessary to all sub- 
stances, or only to some or to one, that is to say, whether there is a 
primum mobile or not; they did not discuss the question whether 
different motions do not require different causes; nor did they lastly 
enter into an explanation of the notion itself.t They appear in fact not 
to have been aware of the intrinsic difficulties of the idea of causality, 


* Vid. ‘'ennemann’s Geschichte der Philosophic. Kerte Aufl. p, 256. 

¢ The contradictions which Zeno found in the notion of movement, are well known, 
and without fully acknowledging their weight, it is impossible to obtain a correct notion 
of it. Aristotle was well aware of this, and endeavoured to remove Zeno’s objections 
to this notion. How important, however, it is, correctly to define this notion, is 
evident even from the influence, which it exercised on the Nyaya, where motion is 
considered as an act, and even as the only act. 


1847. ] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 163 


which undoubtedly is one of the most difficult metaphysical notions.* 
The contradictions in the notion of cause and effect appear with especial 
force to apply to such causes, by which a change in the qualities of a 
substance is effected, as chemical, animal, and psychical effects. Such 
effects are, however, denied by the Nyaya. Material causes must be un- 
derstood as only the substrata, or the materials for a new union, as for 
instance, the two halves from which a pot is produced, are the material 
cause of the pot. There are therefore no real changes, but only changes 
of the accidental form, which substances may assume in their connexion 
with others; and there should not be changes at all we add. Every com- 
pound substance, according to the Nyaya, is ultimately produced from 
simple substances. Simple substances, however, are eternal, and all their 
qualities are also eternal. If this is the case, there is also no change of 
qualities in any compound substance, because by any connexion between 
them, different from an accidental relation, they would assume changes, 
contradictory to the notion, under which they are conceived. As the 
Nyaya, however, admits an actual change in compound substances, in 
which qualities, not to be met with in the simple substances, are pro- 
duced, and moreover admits a compound, in which there is a compara- 
tively firm connexion of the parts with each other, it has deviated from 
its notion of causality, and is hence guilty of the contradiction which it 
first endeavoured to escape. Notwithstanding these deficiencies of the 
Nyaya, we still maintain, that it approached nearer than any other 
Hindu system, to the true notion of causality, causality being, accord- 
ing to Pantheistic, not less than to sceptical idea, a product of habit in 
the association of our ideas. 

In passing from the general metaphysical (ontological) to more 
special investigations (comprehending natural philosophy and psycho- 
logy) we may first observe, that the same clearness obtains in the latter 
as in the former. Existence, or rather to use the Greek term To Ov, 

* Vide Sext. Emp. Adv. mathem. in Ritter’s History of Philos. Vol. iv. p. 339. 
That cause could not be later than effect, is evident; but also the effect cannot be later 
than the cause ; for if so, the cause, being antecedent to the effect, would be without 
effect, and a cause without effect, is a contradiction. And if the effect would be conse- 
quent to the cause, it would be, when the cause is no more, therefore an effect without 
cause. Both therefore must be necessarily together. If this be conceded, then there is 
the difficulty, why the one more than the other is producing (or cause). These are 


only part of the difficulties, and without solving them, the objections made against 
causality, are quite just. 


. 


164 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. (Fes. 


in its connexion with material and immaterial phenomena, is much more 
distinctly conceived than in other systems of the Hindus. We find in- 
deed the same material elements as in other systems ; viz., earth, water, 
light, air, and ether with the same qualities ; but while in all others they 
are only generally described, here there is made an attempt to explain the 
special phenomena as well as the sources of our perception of them, or 
in one word, we find here the basis of observation, and of the first 
lineaments of the consequent reflection upon the results of that ob- 
servation. We meet here also the first remarks about space and time, 
and even some correct notions about their nature, and although both of 
them are placed among the substances, we must not forget the intrinsic 
difficulties of this subject; which in our times only has been more 
satisfactorily investigated by Kant, Fichte, and Herbart. The error of 
considering space and time as substances, is a consequence of the 
notion the Nyaya had formed of substance, viz. as the substrate of 
qualities and actions. This idea would, indeed, have been correct, had 
the notion of existence been preserved. The Védanta certainly had 
a much more exact idea of existence, maintaining, that what exists 
(ro ovrwe ov) must be simply existent, without any attribute what- 
ever, and should strictly not be even considered by a plurality of no- 
tions. The Védanta, however, by denying the reality of phenomena, 
had nothing to explain, while the Nyaya, retaining the crude notions, 
given by observation, had no principles whereby to explain them. The 
most interesting point in this part of the system is the investigation 
into the nature of matter, an investigation which was indeed entered 
into by other Hindu systems, although not with the same success. 
The Védanta for instance, reduced the objects of the senses, or the things, 
composed of the gross elements, to elements, which are finer and imper- 
ceptible to the senses, undoubtedly for the same reasons as the Nyaya, 
viz. because the origin, the changes, and the destruction of the material 
things compelled the mind to fix the notion of existence upon some 
other natures, not affected by those conditions. But according to the 
Védanta, the simpler elements are only simple, because they are unmixed 
with others. As regards, however, space, no reduction was made, and 
their view on this point is very like the doctrine of Anaxagoras, who 
also started from an original homogenousity of the elements. The 
Védanta indeed did not confine its thoughts to those elements, but 


1847. ] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 165 


proceeded to the supposition of a substance, in which there is no differ- 
ence whatever, but for what reason this supposition was here made, it 
would be difficult to give a satisfactory reply, and as regards the princi- 
pal point, space filled out by matter, it was not even touched upon. The 
Nyaya, on the other hand, has examined matter under this point of view, 
and arrived at the theory of atoms, in the same way as Leucipp and Demo- 
crit. It proceeded even further than either. With Leucipp and Demo- 
crit atoms have some, though imperceptible, extent, and also different 
figures and motions, while the Nyaya held them to be absolute units of 
space without any dimensions and motions, that is, mathematical points 
as regards space. ‘They are eternal and unchangeable, and while they 
are without cause themselves, they are the causes of the material uni- 
verse. They are imperceptible to the senses, and their knowledge is 
obtained by inference. 

The same clearness and to a certain degree comprehensiveness is met 
with in their psychological enquiries. The faculties of the soul and its 
relations to the material things, and other objects of knowledge, are 
methodically described. The Nyaya draws a marked line between matter 
and spirit, by distinctly stating the notions, under which either is per- 
ceived. 

The soul has, according to the Nyaya, qualities, opposite to the quali- 
ties of the substances, perceived by the senses, and is therefore distinct 
from these substances, that is to say, as regards special qualities; for 
as to qualities, ascribed to substances, as far as they are substances, 
both must of course agree. Qualities of the soul are the emotions and 
desires, volition and aversion, etc., and knowledge. Knowledge is pro- 
duced by intellect, which is one of the (faculties) qualities of the soul. 
Intellect is again fourfold, it is perception, inference, analogy and verbal 
knowledge. Perception is the source from which all other knowledge 
flows, or rather, without objects of perception the other faculties of 
intellect have no materials to work upon. All knowledge, that is per- 
ceived, is perceived through a medium, through an instrument, by which 
the soul is in communion either with objects from without or from 
within itself. External objects are perceived through five external senses, 
these being in contact with the mind, while internal objects, and by 
them the soul, are directly perceived through the mind. The doctrine 
of the communication of the soul with external objects is very curious 


Z 


166 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [Fxs. 


and interesting, not only because it is original, but because it shows a 
remarkable acuteness in overcoming difficulties, met with in every sys- 
tem, which considers substances not only as individual beings, but also 
as a common essence that exsists, although dependent upon the indivi- 
dual substances. To perceive individual external substances, and their 
properties in common with others, it is necessary that the intercourse of 
the senses with the external objects should take place accordingly, 
that is to say, that individual substances should be perceived by the 
connexion of the senses with these individual substances, and the com- 
mon properties by the connexion of the senses with these common pro- 
perties. Substances are then perceived by the soul as in their different 
relations, viz. first, as in relation of this individual substance and this 
individual quality, of this individual substance and this individual act, 
further, as in the relation, which this individual substance has with its 
class (general essence) or with its generality; and lastly, as in the 
relation, which this individual quality or this individual act of this indi- 
vidual substance has with its class or generality. 

This, however is not sufficient; for a full comprehension, there are 
required also general notions, corresponding with those relations. A tree 
for instance would not be perceived, without the general notion of a tree, 
by which a tree at any place and at any time is perceived. This general 
notion requires again a kind of special knowledge, by which the general 
notion of a tree is referred to a certain tree. ‘This kind of knowledge, 
though corresponding with the relations of all substances, which have 
both general and special properties, and though it is (implicitly) con- 
tained in every object of perception, still differs from the general properties 
of the things. It is a conception of the soul, produced by its own activity. 
This knowledge then is internal perception, that is to say, it is not pro- 
duced by inference, or analogy, or verbal communication, but it is imme- 
diate and complete, as all knowledge by perception. Every perception 
then, according to this exposition, is based upon two elements, an external 
and an internal, or as these expressions do not exactly represent their 
notions, an immediate and mediate, an objective and ideal knowledge. 
In the same way are the objects of the soul perceived, viz. its different 
qualities, as aversion, volition, &c. are called. Though the soul is the 
object of the mind, it is not directly perceived by it, but it is inferred 
from its qualities. It is not necessary here to explain the other faculties 


1847. ] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 167 


of intellect, viz. inference, comparison, and verbal communication, as they 
are discussed in another part of this paper. We here only add, that they 
must be considered as parts of the quality of knowledge, or, as we would 
express it, as modified operations of one and the same mental activity. 

The mind, by which all knowledge is perceived, is not a quality or 
faculty of the soul itself, but it is an independent substance, atomistic 
in its nature. Hence only a single perception or idea is at one time 
perceived by the soul. 

The soul itself is eternal, and therefore so also are its qualities, we 
should say, also its knowledge, although this knowledge be not perceived 
by the soul itself, It is at the same time every where, not, however, as 
an infinite soul, as the universal soul of the Védanta, where all things 
constitute the pervading soul, be it even a piece of matter, though 
bound by ignorance to a state of apparent material existence, but 
according to the Nyaya there are infinite units of soul every where pre- 
sent, through all the worlds of material creation. There is a general soul, 
and there are individual souls. The general soul has the same qualities 
with the individual souls, with the exception of aversion, pleasure, pain, 
merit and demerit, because these qualities would involve imperfections. 
The individual soul is subject to the law of transmigration, and happi- 
ness and misery are the consequences of its good or bad actions. It is, 
however, possible for the individual soul to emerge from the vicissitudes 
of worldly existence by the attainment of true knowledge. 

It would be superfluous to point out the marked distinction, drawn 
here, between body and soul. Though a higher development of philoso- 
phy may destroy the distinctions between soul and matter, that is, 
may recognise matter, or what is perceived as matter, as the same with 
the soul (as for instance Leibnitz did), it is nevertheless certain, that no 
true knowledge of the soul is possible, without first drawing a most 
decided line of demarcation between the phenomena of matter and of 
the soul. In the Nyaya there is even an approximation to the doctrine, 
that soul and matter are as to their principles one and the same, viz. in 
the theory of atoms, according to which atoms are the negation of space. 
From this notion we may draw the inference, which has not been drawn 
by the Nyaya, it is true, but which would have been only a necessary con- 
sequence from the premises, that matter, being a compound of atoms, is 
only a phenomenon, as regards its extension through space. Where then 


168 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [Fep. 


is here shown the difference between the soul and the true substratum of 
matter ? Let us see then, what is the soul? The soul is different from mat- 
ter, as this last is perceived by the senses as extended through space. This 
distinction is true, but further to conclude, that the soul is also different 
from matter in its real nature, where matter is not extended, is certainly 
hasty, and does not follow from the premises. What then is the soul ac- 
cording to them ? It is all-pervading, infinite, like ether, space and time. 
This answer, though far from satisfactory, shows, that they felt the diffi- 
culty in determining the notion of the soul, when their other notions had 
undergone a decided alteration. The most peculiar notion in their psy- 
chological theory is the existence of the mind independent of the soul, 
although most intimately connected with it; for through the mind only 
the soul perceives, as well its own qualities, as the qualities of external 
substances. How could the Nyaya have made a supposition in which 
the contradiction is so evident? For it is easy to conclude, that if the 
mind is independent, its perception is also independent. If the mind 
perceives, this perception is not in the soul, and if this perception is in 
the soul, it is not perceived. The soul then has knowledge, which is not 
real knowledge, because not perceived, and the mind has no knowledge, 
though it perceives. 

We may solve this difficulty at least in some way. The mind was 
first undoubtedly considered as an internal sense according to the ana- 
logy of external senses, in order that there be a unity of perception, and 
also that, as the external objects are perceived through different media, 
so the objects of the soul be perceived through an analogous internal 
medium, a supposition, which has also been made in modern (English) 
philosophy. So far the Nydya might have also considered the mind as 
an internal sense, but they met with a difficulty, which was not felt in the 
same intensity by modern philosophers. If the knowledge be perceived 
by the soul through the medium of the mind (the internal sense), why 
is knowledge not always present in the mind? why does it disappear and 
give place to other objects of perception? Locke was surprised at the 
narrowness of the human mind, without being able to account for it ; 
the Nyaya in endeavouring to account for it, invented an independent 
substance, the mind, which is an atom, and according to its atomistic 
nature is only able to represent or to perceive one object at one and the 
same time. 


* 


1847, | Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 169 


This, I think, is the solution of the difficulty, and though it is cer- 
tainly only an evasion, because its supposition creates greater difficulties 
than the former one, it still gives evidence of a spirit of enquiry in the 
school. 

In comparing the psychological theory of the Nyaya with more 
modern doctrines (with the exception of the latest period) we must 
admit, that in a metaphysical point of view there is no great difference 
between them. ‘The same objections are to be made to either. The 
doctrine of faculties being involved in the same contradictions as that of 
qualities. In either case, if you are to explain, what the soul is, you 
have to state, what it is, independent of its qualities or faculties, and 
also to enumerate the latter. Your explanation will thus point out a 
quale, which is not a unity, but something defined by a variety of no- 
tions. This, however, is not the place to discuss the matter and we 
wished only to show, that modern philosophy in this respect cannot 
boast to have advanced one single step beyond that of the Hindus, that 
is to say, in the metaphysic of the soul, although it would be absurd to 
deny, that modern psychology, as to the observation of psychical pheno- 
mena, has made rapid strides, towards perfection. 

In passing over to the strictly logical enquiries of the Nydya, we have 
to premise, that we cannot view them with the same satisfaction, and 
although we make ample allowance for the different forms of language, 
in which they were explained, we are compelled to confess, that they 
are neither exact nor complete. 

The Nyaya has treated the logical topics in the inverse order of that 
adopted by us, viz. first inference, then ideas, and lastly propositions. 
This order is followed, not in consequence of a different method of ar- 
rangement, but in consequence of the subjects being based upon different 
grounds, and flowing from different sources. Logic might undoubtedly 
be treated analytically and commence with the exposition of syllogisti- 
cal forms. Considering argument as a fact, we might analyse various 
arguments, and proceeding to their elements, that is to propositions, 
gradually arrive at ideas or notions. But the Nyaya, far from following 
such an analytical course, holds inference to be a quality, different from 
the quality of forming names and notions, and discusses inference before 
verbal knowledge, evidently with the purpose of showing, that the latter 
in some way depends upon the former. 


170 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [F'Es. 


We, however, treat these doctrines in their common order, with no 
other intention than to make ourselves better understood. 

Verbal knowledge is one of the divisions of intellect. The first act 
or the first condition of understanding words, is the forming of the 
name! A name is corresponding to a certain object, and this object is 
connected with the name by the power of the name. A name which has 
such a power, is a word. The clear and distinct knowledge of what is 
implied in a word, is produced by a third act, and is the meaning of a 
word. This latter is in fact identical with idea or notion, as is evident 
from the examples given, as for instance, a tree is a thing which has 
root, stem, branches, leaves, etc. 

Here again is the order perverted, the name is certainly not, the first 
operation, and the object to be named, the second, but just the reverse. 
There must be objects to be named, and though we may admit, that the 
clear idea of a subject often succeeds a name, still the object, of which 
the notion is formed, is the first, and we must assert, that what precedes 
the notion, also precedes the name. 

The enquiry, how ideas are formed from a variety of like objects, 
belongs to psychology, and however interesting this question otherwise 
may be, logic has nothing to do with the psychical process, by which 
ideas are produced. If this were the case, we might still have to wait for 
a logic, as a psychological theory has not yet been established to general 
satisfaction, while logic as a science has been completed for more than 
two thousand years. By considering the names and afterwards the 
corresponding notions, the real character of a notion has been at least 
obscured. From the given examples we see, that a notion, instead of 
being defined by the genus, under which it is contained, and the specific 
difference, is explained by a genus, which is distant from it by a number 
of intervening notions (for instance, genus of tree=thing) and by a 
specific difference, which besides its own difference, enumerates properties 
which it partakes with others (for instance root, stem, leaves, etc. =speci- 
fic difference. ) 

The meaning of a word or idea, ought to have been considered in its 
connexion with other ideas, as made up by genus and differentia specifica, 
the co-ordination and subordination of ideas, as their compatible, contra- 
ry, and contradictory opposition. Here, however, are genus and species 
raised to categories under the names of generality and particularity, 


1847.] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 171 


being there the common properties of substances, qualities, and acts 
while the opposition of ideas is treated in the seventh category, viz. 
that of negation. There are notions, which, according to our view, 
in contrary opposition, placed under the head of absolute negation 
and notions, according to us in contradictory opposition, in mutual 
negation. 

From this arrangement then did not only result an imperfect exposi- 
tion of the logical relations among ideas, but an important metaphysical 
error, by which logical relations of ideas are considered as real proper- 
ties of substances. 

In finding the logical treatment of notions by no means satisfactory, 
we may at the same time observe, that there are many valuable remarks 
about some psychological and grammatical relations of ideas which we 
do not recollect to have found elsewhere. These we have given ina 
note to the text, where this subject is explained. 

A proposition to convey a distinct meaning, must, according to the 
Nyaya, have four qualities : 

1. Contiguity, which, according to some, is the uninterrupted succes- 
sion of the words pronounced in a sentence, so that for instance, the 
first word of it be not pronounced in the present moment, and the next 
half an hour afterwards, according to others, the arrangement of the 
words according to their grammatical connexion, for instance, that a 
preposition be placed together with the word which depends upon it, 
and not with a word, to which it does not refer. 

2. Consistency, or the mutual agreement of the words, according to 
their sense, so that contradictory terms be not connected. 

3. Structure, or the grammatical (terminations) forms of the words, 
which correspond in their meanings (for instance, that the verb agrees 
with the subject in number and person.) 

4. Intention, that is, the meaning which the speaker wishes to con- 
vey by a sentence, 

There again the logical characteristics of a proposition have been 
omitted, as all those points, with the exception perhaps of consistency, 
belong to the grammatical structure of a sentence. 

The logical explanation of propositions, as a matter of course, passes 
over any grammatical form a proposition may assume; it treats only 


172 Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [Frs. 


of the relation between two ideas, and its simple question is, whether 
two ideas can be connected or not. 

It is evident, that in this way neither quantity, nor modality of pro- 
positions could have been discovered. We might, however, dispense with 
them, as these forms are not strictly logical; but not even the division of 
propositions according to their quality has been made by the Nyaya. 

The theory of ideas and propositions is the weakest point in the logic 
of the Nyaya; they are more successful in explaining the form of argu- 
ments; for though the theory of syllogism is far from exact and com- 
plete, we must admit, that they understood the general character of a 
syllogism. : 

Goéutama, the founder of the Nyaya, thought, that a complete syllogism 
ought to contain five members (propositions) ; viz. 1, the proposition, 
(that is, what is to be proved by the argument;) 2, the reason or argument; 
3, the instance; 4, the application; 5, the conclusion, for example— 

This hill is fiery 
For it smokes. 

As for instance a hearth. 
This hill smokes 
Therefore it is fiery. 

We need not expatiate on the five members, although it may indeed 
create some surprise, that philosophers, who gave an analysis of syllo- 
gism, should not have immediately observed the superfluity of two of 
these members; in more modern times the syllogism was reduced to 
four members (by others to three), of which we now give a descrip- 
tion. 

The first act is the statement of a fact (or proposition minor). For 
instance: this hill smokes. With the idea of smoke is associated the 
idea of fire, as we know from a former observation, that smoke is con- 
nected with fire, as for instance, fire on a hearth. Smoke is therefore 
the argument, and has the predicate, that fire is to be inferred from it 
under similar circumstances, as those which were observed concerning 
the fire on a hearth. The second step therefore is, that the argument 
(smoke) recalls its connection in a former time with another idea. This 
second act is called consideration, or to give it in a sentence, 

Where there is smoke, there is fire, as for instance, on a hearth. 


1847.] Bhasha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 173 


The third step is, that such a smoke from which fire is inferrible, is on 
the hill: and the fourth step, the actual connexion of the fire with the 
‘hill, that is, the hill is fiery. 

The error in this exposition is the confounding logical correctness 
with truth. The Ny4ya perceived very well, that the terminus medius by 
its being separatedly connected with two other ideas or denied of one, 
connected or separated these two ideas,—which is the real operation in 
arguing; but at the same time they wanted to guard against false pre- 
mises or a false conclusion, and for this purpose they required a consi- 
deration, which was to establish the truth of the preposition major by a 
reference to an instance, in which the truth of this premise was exem- 
plified. Their investigation was therefore not only directed to the logical 
operation of arguing, but also to the truth, which may result from it, 
and both the truth of the conclusion, and the correctness of the argu- 
ment, should be the result of one and the same operation, which of 
course is impossible. We would not so much object to this process on 
the ground, that it is tedious, and useless, as regards the syllogism 
itself (for it may be good to draw the attention of the beginner not only 
to the special connexion of the ideas in the syllogistical form, but also 
to the truth of the premises) but on the ground, that it is considered 
only valid by giving an instance. Hence arguing is not allowed, where 
no instance can be given, by which not only an undue restriction takes 
place, but also, in some cases at least, four ideas are introduced. 

Another error is, that by inference not only a new connevion of ideas 
is to be given, but also a new association of an object, which is perceived, 
with something, that is not perceived, as for instance smoke, which is 
perceived, with fire, which is not perceived. Here then, it appears, is 
inference limited to objects, at present in our perception. Though this 
is denied in the later expositions of the Nydya, and is expressly stated 
as an error of the earlier philosophers of the school, still perception is not 
omitted as a necessary condition of inference, which must of course 
confine syllogisms to a much narrower circle than is according to their 
nature. 

The third error, which has a close communion with the first, is the 
confounding of the logical relation between argument and conclusion, 
with the relation between cause and effect. All the examples given to 
illustrate syllogisms, do not represent a connexion between ideas, in 

2A 


174 Bhasha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [Frs. 


which the relations are those of notions, that is to say, either excluded 
from each other, or contained in a higher one, but in the relation of 
cause and effect, and vice versa, which may certainly be expressed in a 
syllogism, but only in one kind of syllogism, viz. in a conditional one. 
That this error is not owing to the examples, but to the doctrine itself, 
is proved by Gotitama’s division of syllogisms, which are either passing 
from the cause to its effect, or consequent, passing from the effect to its 
cause, or from general notions. An inference of the first kind is, when 
rain is inferred from a collection of clouds, of the second, from the 
increase of water in a river to rain, of the third, from the notion of earth 
to the notion of a substance. This latter would indeed answer a rela- 
tion in the notions themselves, but it is of minor iain siden and it has 
been even omitted in later treatises. 

If even the nature of a syllogism be not expressed in its precise logical 
form by the Nyaya, we much less can expect to find here a complete 
enumeration of the various kinds of syllogisms. Gotitama’s division 
of syllogisms has been just adverted to, and it is hardly necessary to 
remark, that this division is not logical. In later treatises of the Nydya 
syllogisms are divided into positive and negative ones, and from the 
examples given in illustration it appears, that the two-first syllogistical 
forms are represented by them; here, however, is their theory finished, 
and we find no trace of the different moods the syllogistical forms can 
enter into. 

It is a remarkable circumstance, that the general form of a syllogism 
should have been found by the Hindus, and yet that they still should not 
have discovered the different forms and moods, the diversities of which 
are the result of a mere combination. This is the more remarkable, as 
in their philosophical arguing we almost invariably find a syllogism 
expressed in an enthymematical form, where the conclusion and the 
terminus medius are given, by which the force of an argument is not 
only forthwith apparent, but even a certain elegance produced, and this 
even without referring to an instance. We think, that this deficiency 
was the consequence of two causes especially—first, they were unable 
to disengage themselves from the grammatical forms in which human 
ideas are expressed, as shown by their technical logical language, which 
though as precise as possible, is not clear but cumbrous and not com- 
prehensive, and secondly, from their pious regard for every thing tradi- 


1847. ] Bhdsha Parichéda, or Division of Language. 175 


tional, be it in political institutions, in religion, or in science. The 
Siitras, in which their ancient systems are expressed, have always re- 
mained text-books, and any discovery that had been made in theory, did 
not prompt them to attempt a new exposition of science, but gave only 
occasion to a new interpretation of the ancient doctrines of the school. 

A comparison between the logic of Aristotle and that of the Hindus 
would be neither interesting nor instructive, and we therefore beg to 
decline it. With the Hindus, logic is a first attempt, marked with the 
vestiges of rude workmanship and conception, while with Aristotle it 
springs forth perfect at once. 

The Bhasha Parichéda itself is considered as a text-book in the 
Brahminical schools. There is no Pundit of any repute who does not 
know it well, and many know the whole work by-heart. And indeed it 
is admirably adapted for the purpose of introduction into the study of 
the Ny4ya and Vaishéshika philosophies. It is a succinct exposition of 
the principal topics of the whole system, and may easily be committed 
to memory. It is written in the well-known Anustabh Skékas. The 
style, however, is not poetical at all, but that of the most sober prose, 
and nowhere is the attempt made to combine the graces of imagination 
with philosophical method. The language is as simple as possible, and 
vastly different from the language of the commentary, which is extremely 
difficult to understand, not only because it expresses the simplest ideas 
in the most abstruse language, but also selects terms, which either belong 
to the Nydya philosophy alone, or have a different sense in other systems. 
The difficulties a European first experiences in understanding a work of 
this school, are less in the subject than in the mode, in which it is 
treated, so remote from European ideas, and in fact it is only by tracing 
the connexion of all the ideas that any one will be able thoroughly to 
understand it. The commentary is certainly a valuable assistant to the 
understanding of the work, and I have made ample use of it for the 
interpretation of passages, which I generally did through the very words 
of the commentary. 

The course followed in the work, is very simple. The author gives 
first the leading ideas of the system, that is, the highest metaphysical 
notions, which are gradually to be explained in his work. These are 
the notions of substance, quality, action, generality, (class) particularity, 
(species) intimate union and negation, 


176 Bhasha Parichéda, or Division of Language. [Frs. 


He then enumerates the various substances, qualities, actions, etc., 
after which he explains the properties, common to all categories, and 
then those, common to more or less of them. After this exposition the 
different substances in their relations to themselves and to other sub- 
stances as well as to their qualities and actions are explained. 

In the same way the author discusses the qualities of the substances, 
and his work is finished, when he has treated on the last quality, enu- 
merated at the commencement of his treatise. The other categories are. 
not especially inquired into, which indeed was not necessary, as they 
are dependent upon substances, qualities and actions, and their applica- 
tions have been fully given, whenever the relations of the categories 
required it. 

The first edition of the Sanscrit text of the Bhasha Parichéda appear- 
ed in 1827, under the auspices of the Committee of Public Instruction. 
The Sanscrit text in Bengalee characters was sometime afterwards 
reprinted with the addition of a Bengalee translation of the text, as 
well as of the commentary, of this latter, however, with considerable 
alterations. On the merits of the Bengalee translation I am unable to 
express an opinion, as I saw this edition but once, and did afterwards 
not succeed in getting a copy of it. ‘The translation, which I offer to 
the public, is made as literal as the idiom of the English language 
would admit, and although it was my endeavour strictly to adhere to the 
English idiom, I was sometimes forced slightly to deviate from it, in 
order to convey more precisely the meaning of the original. 

In conclusion, I cannot omit gratefully to acknowledge the liberality — 
of the Asiatic Society, which enabled me to add the Sanscrit original 
to the translation. This text is a mere reprint from the Calcutta 
edition, free, however, from the few errata found there. ‘There is no 
manuscript of this work in the Library of the Asiatic Society with 
which I could have compared the Calcutta edition. I believe, however, 
that such a comparison would have been quite unnecessary, as an 
incorrectness of the text must disclose itself in a philosophical work like 
this by the want of connexion, and can therefore be easily rectified. 


(To be continued.) 


— = - 


1847.] Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 177 


Memoranda on Explosive Cotton, by W. B. O’SHaucunessy, M. D., 
F. R. S., Co-Secretary, Asiatic Society of Bengal. 


Having been permitted to publish the results of some experiments 
which I have recently conducted by order of Government, with the 
object of testing the value of explosive cotton for Military purposes, I 
trust the details I proceed to submit may not be altogether devoid of 
interest. 

Soon after the first accounts arrived from home regarding Schoen- 
bein’s discovery of the new explosive, a small portion of his preparation 
was received in Calcutta, of which from two sources I obtained altoge- 
ther about a grain in weight. There was at the same time received 
from Professor Schoenbein a kind of paper, perfectly transparent and 
colourless, the preparation of which was believed to be in some manner 
connected with that of the explosive cotton. 

Minute as was the quantity of the cotton I received, it was still 
sufficient to afford a clue to the nature of the preparation. A particle 
exploded over mercury in a glass tube, disappeared without residuum 
—and gave a transparent and colourless gas, but slightly soluble in 
water and giving red fumes by mixture with common air, and a whitish 
precipitate when agitated with lime water. The microscope further 
showed that the structure of the cotton was unaltered by the preparation 
it underwent. This was sufficient to prove that the explosive cotton 
contained nitrogen—and rendered it probable that it might be prepar- 
ed by the action of nitric acid on the vegetable fibre. It recalled to 
mind too the experiments made by Pelouze in 1833, who found that paper 
immersed for a2 moment in the strongest nitric acid, then thoroughly 
washed with distilled water and dried, became exceedingly inflammable, 
being transformed into a substance which he named Xyloidine. 

Working upon these data, I succeeded late in December, in preparing 
an explosive cotton, and about the same time my friend Mr. Siddons, 
by independent experiments, arrived at the same result. 

That the explosive cotton we prepared is identical with Schoenbein’s, 
seems to be proved by the following circumstances. 1. On microsco- 
pic examination there is no perceptible difference of structure. 2. On 
explosion they yield the same gaseous mixture—and /astly, by immer- 
sing the best kind of the Calcutta cotton, in pure sulphuric ether, it is 

2B 


178 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [Fer 


dissolved and the solution evaporated spontaneously on a flat surface, 
affords a transparent, colourless, glass-like paper, exactly the same im 
appearance and properties as that which accompanied the specimen of 
Schoenbein’s cotton sent to Calcutta. 

Reserving for a moment the description of the process followed by 
Mr. Siddons and myself, as soon as a sufficient supply was obtained 
for analytical experiments, I ascertained that the cotton which in its 
natural state is a compound of carbon, and the elements of water, had 
by immersion in a mixture of equal measures of strongest nitric 
and sulphuric acids, parted with its constituent water, and that in 
the place of this had been substituted one of the series of Nitrogen 
and Oxygen compounds. The use of the sulphurie acid is simply 
by its powerful affinity for water to withdraw this from the carbon 
of the cotton; no portion of this acid or its constituents enters into 
the composition of the new explosive compound. Ultimately the 
explosive cotton was found to be a compound of Nitrogen, Carbon, and 
Oxygen, isomeric with (or of being the same ingredients and pro- 
portions as) the old and well known fulminie or cyanic acid, the active 
principle of the fulminating silver, mercury, &c. But here as in many 
other isomeric compounds, numerous differences in properties became 
manifest, depending chiefly on the mechanical structure of the different 
forms of the preparation. I have not as yet completed to my own 
satisfaction a sufficient number of exact analyses to warrant my express- 
ing the results in figures, but the numerous facts which I have observ- 
ed, tend to the conclusion that all the isomeric varieties of cyanic acid 
are represented in the explosive cotton, passing into each other under 
the influence of slight and often appreciable circumstances, the general 
event being the formation of a substance bearing a close resemblance to 
Cyamelide (C. 2.0. 2 + N. H.) being white, neutral, insoluble in water 
and acids, dissolved in aqua Potassii ammonia being set free, yielding 
sulphate of ammonia when heated with strong sulphuric acid while car- 
bonic acid escapes. ‘This description applies equally to Cyamelide and 
to the best explosive cotton. (See Gregory’s Organic Chemistry, 
p- 295.) 

Without entering upon elaborate chemical details unsuited to the 
object of this paper, it will suffice to say that we found the prepared cotton 
to be increased in weight by 20 per 100, insoluble in water, unchang 


1847.] Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. i79 


ed in composition or properties by immersion or even boiling in salt 
water, insoluble in alcohol, oils, acetic acid, ammonia, weak acid and 
alkaline solutions—such. as solution of carbonate of soda or of potash 
or lime water. When very well prepared it is entirely soluble in anhy- 
drous sulphuric ether, and the solution when evaporated yields the 
glass-like paper. If the ether contains alcohol or water the paper is 
opaque and porous, like ordinary filtering paper. 

The cotton thus prepared may be exploded over gun powder without 
igniting it. It explodes by a violent blow on an anvil with the sharp 
ring of percussion powder, but the explosion only affects the particles 
immediately struck, and does not ignite the rest, but if gun powder be 
mixed with it the whole is fired. 

It does not explode by the electric spark, or by the discharge of a 
single Leyden jar. 

It explodes on being heated to 375° of Fahrenheit. 

It does not explode by friction between wooden or metallic surfaces 
till the temperature of these rises to 375°; neither does it explode by 
compression in powerful screw presses. On the contrary, compression 
exercises some singular effects on its explosiveness and combustibility. 
The very most explosive kind twisted into a tight cord burns like quick 
match, and a tight ligature of wire or twine round a portion of this in- 
tercepts the ignition. In the same way when compressed into the 
touch-hole of a cannon it is fired with the utmost difficulty, so that it 
cannot be used for priming ; accordingly in the ordnance trials at Dum- 
Dum the cotton charges have been always fired with quick match or 
powder priming. 

Exploded in a loose heap its force appears to be exercised almost 
altogether in the lines of least resistance ; thus on two occasions nearly 
two pounds weight while being dried on a water-bath exploded acci- 
dentally on a thin copper tray, which was not injured or displaced—and 
on both these occasions the plaster of the roof and the loose tiles of 
a shed within three feet of the cotton remained undisturbed. A man 
standing close to the tray was uninjured, and several test glasses ranged 
ona party wall within 44 feet of the explosion were not moved or bro- 
ken or their contents spilled. 

Regarding the results obtained by my first experiments, in connexion 
with the valuable properties ascribed by general rumour to the explo- 

2B 2 


180 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [Fes. — 


sive cotton, to be of sufficient importance to warrant more extensive 
trials, I reported them officially to Government, and was immediately 
directed to prepare a sufficiently large quantity of this cotton for a 
series of ordnance trials at Dum-Dum. With the valuable assistance of 
Mr. Frewen of the Mint Assay office, I have accordingly had manufac- 
tured over 100 pounds of the explosive cotton, and the experience thus 
gained regarding its preparation and properties enables me to state such 
facts as may enable others to form a more correct estimate of the degree 
of practical value of this preparation, for Military proposes, than can be 
obtained from experiments on the manufacture and properties of a few 
ounces of the explosive. 
PREPARATION. 

In the experiments carried on at the mint, 100 tola weight (3 and 
ith troy pounds) of cotton was operated on at a time, the cotton having 
been previously cleaned and loosened out by the native bowstring 
apparatus. 

The acid mixture consists of equal measures (in all 336 fluid ounces) of 
sulphuric acid, Sp. gr. 1843, and nitric acid, Sp. gr. 1460. The sulphuric 
acid weighs 840 tolas=to 21its av. and the nitric acid weighs tolas 651 
=to 17 av. tbs. fractions omitted. The mixture when cool is placed in a 
large shallow porcelain basin, so situated as to permit the fumes to be 
carried off by a current of air. The cotton is introduced with iron tongs in 
small portions at a time, pressed under the surface of the acid for about 
two minutes and moved to the opposite side of the pan. This is conti- 
nued till 50 tola weight is introduced. When the last portion has been 
immersed for about three minutes, the cotton should be lifted out, by 
the tongs, quickly transferred to a screw-press of iron or stone and the 
excess of acid pressed out. This is continued till the 50 tola weight is 
pressed. The cake is then rapidly removed to a large vessel of com- 
mon water, torn asunder by hand, washed and squeezed and thrown 
into a second vessel of water ; again washed and squeezed, and the 
masses thrown into a vessel containing a solution of 1 pound of carbo- 
nate of soda in 20 gallons of water. Well washed here the mass is 
placed in a large screw-press—the pressed cake again washed. with water. 
It is now fit for drying, which is best done by solar heat on a dry terrace 
over tarpaulin or sheets of iron, taking the utmost caution to avoid the 
possibility of explosion by accidental sparks. 


1847. | Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 18i 


Two days’ exposure are sufficient in the month of February, to bring 
the cotton into as dry state as is required for its use with ordnance or 
small arms. 

Steam or hot water heat may be used for the drying with perfect 
safety with suitable apparatus. But unless this be in every respect 
properly constructed, the danger of making a large quantity of cotton 
is too serious to be trifled with. I have also dried cotton successfully 
in vacud, and by the immediate contact of masses of quick-lime, but 
it is needless at present to occupy the pages of this Journal with de- 
scriptions of the arrangements, by which these facts can be practically 
applied. 

When dry the cotton is next to be carded; or loosened out by the 
native bowstring apparatus. . 

The expressed acid may be used for the remaining 50 tolas of the 
100. It will however be generally found that after 40 tolas have been 
immersed, the acid begins to corrode or pulp the cotton, producing a 
new series of compounds, chiefly oxalic acid, formic acid, and sugar. 

The same series of operations above described is gone through with 
the second acid, and the resulting cotton kept apart. 

After drying, it is found that the 100 tola weight of cotton has 
increased to 114 to 120, according to the care with which the process 
has been conducted. 

The process thus performed affords two qualities of explosive cotton. 

The first 50 tolas may be designated Ist or best quality. 

The product of the 2d expressed acid and the second 50 tolas of 
cotton should be marked 3d or worst quality. 

If these be mechanically mixed by carding or the bow-string, the 
mixture may be called 2d quality. 

The acid mixture which after cooling was Sp. gr. 1667 before use, 
after once having been used is of Sp. gr. 1687. Twice used its density is 
1691. Theacid once used measures 180 fluid ounces and by distillation 
yields 7 its bulk of nitric acid, Sp. gr. 1480 ; the acid twice used yields 
3th its bulk of nitric acid, Sp. gr. 1400. By prolonged boiling in platinum 
or glass vessels, the pulpy cotton in the mixture is decomposed with 
copious effervescence of carbonic acid and nitric oxyde gases; when this 
terminates and the acid in the boiler begins to blacken, the concentra- 
tion has proceeded far enough, and on cooling the origmal sulphuric 


182 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [Fes. 


acid is recovered with little diminution either of strength or quan- 
tity. 

The washings in the several tubs being neutralized with carbonate of 
soda, yield on boiling down, a large quantity of mixed sulphate and 
nitrate of soda, which may be used for the economical manufacture of 
nitric acid, so as materially to diminish the cost of the process. 

Reserving an account of the cost of manufacture, I proceed now to show 
the properties and effects of each of the three varieties of the cotton 
above described. 


Best Quality, No. 1. 


Snow white, explodes without leaving the least residuum or dampness 
—does not fire powder if ignited over it. Flashed on the hand causes 
no pain; is almost entirely soluble in sulphuric ether. One pound weight 
avoirdupois can easily and safely be compressed into the space of 128 
cubic inches* without diminishing its explosive power for ordnance or 
small arms. 

Exposed to the air in a large room, protected from dust this quality 
of cotton (dried by solar heat for two days) fluctuates in weight accord- 
ing to the hygrometric state of the atmosphere—the maximum increase 
having been 1.34 per 100, as shown in the annexed Table of obser- 
vations continued during 26 days. 

At this maximum of absorption no diminution of projectile pow- 
er was experienced in trials made with an eprouvette mandril gun, the 
invention of Colonel Forbes, especially suited to these experiments.+ 
But when the quantity of moisture designedly added exceeded three 
per 100, the explosive power fell rapidly, but was regained altogether 
by redrying the cotton. 

With this quality of cotton trials were made at Dum Dum on the 
19th and 25th of January, and 24th of February, with the results shown 
in the accompanying Table. 


* The bulk of 4 pounds of ordnance gunpowder. 
+ Of which I hope to be permitted to give a more minute account in a future 


number of the journal. 


1847. ] Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 3 183 


Dum Dum. 
Ordnance Experiments with Gun Cotton. 


x ‘ a 2 o| & 
Sue ps "ae cy fe Ball 
on ee @ | Gunused. Se =| = |thrown Remarks. 
Se a |S !| Gj | yards 
* Ounces 
19th| 3d 4 /|8 inch Mor-} 68 45°| 250)/Mortar somewhat foul. 
tar. lbs. 
abut eesti 2 a fe - 331)|Perfectly clean. 
See ay 4 a e yo 839/ Quite clean. Recoil 2 inches. 
rd 6 f 2 A 1030|Do. Time 14 seconds. Re- 
coil 84 inches. 
mart "Gs 8 rH us a 1186/Do. Time 153 seconds, re- 
coil 10 inches. 
fe fet 10 ps + ne 1295|The same as last—Perfect- 
ly cool. 
2 ae 12 i: ee - 1366|Thesame time, 163 seconds. 
Recoil 13 inches. 
> 33 4 BB) 45 9 on } 
8 424 
ie aia “i Pa 2 Aes Guns clean, and cool; 
ridin : oe A tere ( recoil trifling. 
» |. | 12 19 pr. do. 6°| 1672 
J 
25th 4 |8 inch mor,} 45 |,, |45° igi 
4 33 33 99 724 


The ranges above exhibited are as nearly as possible four times as 
great as those given in the Woolwich tables of mortar practice in 1838, 
strength of powder from 21 to 22,/,ths. With this powder an 8 inch 
mortar with 46 pound shot gave with 153 ounces a range of 700 yards 
which was in all the above trials exceeded by 4 ounces of cotton. 

In two trials made of some cotton prepared by Mr. Siddons, corres- 
ponding ranges were obtained with the 8 inch mortar and 6 pr. field gun. 

Lastly a sample of cotton sent to me for trial by Mr. Scott of the H. 
Co.’s Dispensary tested by the mandril eprouvette gan gave a range of 
1103 feet against 111 of my first quality. 

These experiments with cotton made with the utmost care by three 
different persons, show an extraordinary uniformity in the quality and 


* Present on the 19th January—Lieut.-Col. Lawrenson, C. B., Capts. White- 
ford, Broome, Douglas, and other officers of the Artillery Regiment. 


184 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [Fes. 


power of the best article—and show that this quality is obtainable 
despite of difference of manipulation in the process, and that it is depen- 
dent on the definite chemical composition of the compound itself. The 
fact is one which affords the most encouraging prospects to those inter- 
ested in developing the qualities of the article. 

The trials made with this. variety of the cotton with small arms have 
been very numerous and satisfactory. The ratio of superior power to that 
of powder, is evidently much greater than in the cannon and mortar 
practice, but as the experiments are not capable of being expressed in 
figures, I will not dwell on them in more detail. : 

In all the ordnance experiments above narrated there were remarked— 

1.—Entire absence of smoke. 

2.—As far as could be judged very trivial heating of the guns. 

3.—Entire absence of dirt or wetting. 

The report, recoil and time of flight of the shot and shells seemed 
equal, as closely as could be estimated, to these effects from the charges 
of powder required for equal ranges. 

It should further be observed that of this quality of cotton from 6 to 
7 ounces on two trials burst an 8 inch 46 lb. shell, but it should be 
stated that it was with considerable difficulty this quantity of cotton 
was forced into the shell. 


2d and 3d quality of Cotton. 


The 2d is prepared as above described, by mixing together the whole 
of the 100 tola weight manufactured from the quantity of acids above 
specified. No. 3 or worst, is the product of the last 50 tolas of cot- 
ton and expressed acid. 

It was with the 2d quality my first experiments were made ; 4 ounces 
tried at the Eshapore powder works by Major Anderson and myself 
gave, with a 68 pound shot, a range of 461 yards, thus :— 

Best quality, 4 oz. 68tb. shot, range 839 yards, tried at Dum Dum. 
20 quality, “ditto ‘dite. ee eS AGT Yee. es LUSHApOre. 

3d quality, worst. stl - 200 145.2. 0.0 Un ae 
H. C.’s powder, weet ‘ofthat atiy 169... 2... EShepores 

The effect of the mixture or quality No. 2 it will be observed is 
inferior to the arithmetical mean of the two forces, the range being 
461 instead of 544 yards; but this variation may have proceeded from 


1847. | Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 185 


the mixture on trial having been made with cotton of two different 
days’ manufacture. 


The preceding experiments show that the worst cotton is superior to 
the best ordnance powder in the proportion of 250 to 189 in the trials 
under description, and that the 2d quality is superior to powder in the 
proportion of 23 to 1. But other considerations arise regarding 
these inferior qualities which we have found to have faults which more 
than outweigh the value of the superiority of range. 


The inferior kind of cotton is of yellowish colour, insoluble in 
ether—so hygrometric that it absorbs from 5 to 10 per 100 of 
moisture from the airin 24 hours. It soils and wets the guns and 
leaves in them a body of wavering flame and large quantities of half 
ignited cotton, a source of the most formidable danger to the gunners, 
and likely to lead to explosion of ammunition in the vicinity. It is 
rendered useless by being compressed or even tied in a cartridge bag. 
In several instances while the loose cotton of this quality gave a very 
respectable range, an equal quantity tied up in a cartridge bag, scarcely 
expelled the ball from the gun. 


But the most fatal objection to the use of this inferior sort is, that 
stored even in hermetically sealed ammunition chests, lined with copper 
and without the contact of the air, it changes composition, and in less 
than six weeks becomes totally mert. Thus a box proved at Dum 
Dum on the 19th January, of which 4 oz. threw a 68%5 shot 250. 
yards from an 8 inch mortar, was re-opened on the 27th of February, 
and the same quantity barely threw a 46ib shot a few feet from the 
mouth of the mortar. 


The cause of this change is the same as that which affects so many 
cyanogen compounds, especially the hydrocyanic acid. The cotton 
under description was most carefully prepared, and every trace of 
acid left by the process well neutralized and washed out. Still in 
six weeks it had changed its composition and become entirely useless, 
and when the chest was opened there was perceptible a strong smell of 
nitric oxyde gas. This fact is sufficient to show that it is only the 
very best kind of cotton which can be depended on for any military 
use. It next remains to be considered whether to this kind also there 
may not exist such objections as may counterbalance the very great ad- 

2 


186 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. (Fes. 


vantages which in point of range, cleanliness, lightness and absence of 
smoke, I have shown it to possess over ordinary service powder. 

It has been stated that the low temperature at which this cotton 
explodes would render rapid firing impracticable in consequence of the 
heating of the guns. Now the true exploding point is 375° Fahrenht. 
Under this, whatever may be asserted to the contrary, the best cotton 
cannot be made to explode. Now whether it arise from the greater 
quickness of the explosion, or the inferior degree of specific heat in the 
material, the fact is certain that it would take a greater number of 
rounds of the best cotton than ever could be fired in the sharpest action to 
bring the temperature of the gun so as to approach the exploding point. 

In one set of experiments instituted on this question, 80 rounds of 
cotton were fired from a gun metal cone of exactly the weight of the 
whole of the cotton used. The interval was but ten seconds between 
each round. When the last round was fired, a piece of the best cotton 
was firmly pressed against the sides of the metal cone in every direction 
without ignition taking place. On repeating the experiment and taking 
the temperature of the cone it was found to be below that of boiling 
water ! 

The next objection made is the assumed probability of spontaneous 
combustion. Now the combustible material in this compound being 
already combined with all the oxygen it requires, I can see no reasonable 
cause for the apprehension of the spontaneous heating, which in raw 
cotton arises from the absorption of the additional oxygen with which 
its carbon and accidental oily matters have a tendency to unite. 

This process I have most carefully studied with reference to an attempt 
made some years since to fire the arsenal in Fort William, on which 
occasion a Court of Enquiry, of which I was a member, had satisfactory 
proof before them that spontaneous combustion was not concerned in 
what took place. The experiments then carried on led to our being 
enabled to produce this kind of combustion with perfect certainty in 
masses of tow, cotton, cloth, &c. duly prepared for the purpose. Such 
experiments I have repeated with the gun cotton, but I have never 
detected the least trace of heating. The objection nevertheless is one 
which time alone can dispose of effectually. 

As to danger in the process of preparation, I do not deny that there 
is some risk. But this, I know by sufficient experie nce, is infinitely 


1847. | Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 187 


less than that is attendant on the manufacture of gun powder. In 
the preparation of gun cotton there are but two periods of risk— 
the first is while pressing the cake still full of acid. On one occasion 
this caused an explosion, but of too trivial a nature to be worth descrip- 
tion, and moreover the accident is one which cannot cause injury with 
a press properly constructed. 

The last stage of drying unquestionably demands every precaution. 
In my late experiments, a stray spark ignited at once ten pounds 
of cotton which scorched more or less severely two men who, contrary to 
orders, were quietly seated in the middle of the mass. Had this hap- 
pened with the same proportionate quantity (40tbs.) of powder, there 
can be no doubt what would have been the result to the lives of the 
men, and to the premises where the accident occurred. 

I repeat that during the other stages of the manufacture explosive 
cotton is prepared with the most perfect safety. While it contains as 
much moisture as can be perceived by the touch, it may be put into 
a red hot crucible, or penetrated by a red hot poker with absolute 
impunity. The hiss of steam anda few sparks are the only phenomena 
observed. 

I have next to deal with the cost of the best kind of cotton, and 
here it is that 2 a@ military point of view the chief objection arises to 
its use. The annexed estimate shows in detail that to prepare gun 
cotton from acids as sold in Calcutta at present, 1 pound of the best 
kind costs about 10 Rs. But being fourfold the power of powder, this 
may be considered as 2 Rs 8 as. for the corresponding quantity of 
cotton. Now this is at least 8 times the price of ordnance powder, 
range for range. 

But on the supposition that Government sail their own acids, using 
nitrate of soda, instead of saltpetre, economizing the washings, recon- 
eentrating the sulphuric acid, &c. the cost of the preparation would be 
reduced so considerably, that allowing as above for superiority of power 
the cost of cotton would be 2Rs. Yas 6pie per av. pound, being within 
a fraction of double the price of powder, using quantities of equal 
power.* But this statement of course must be regarded as one resting 


* 10 as. 4 pie for range which would be procured from a pound of powder value 
5 as. 


yA 2 Ry” 4 


188 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [Fes. 


on views which further experience may modify or disprove. It would 
be presumptuous to advance a positive opinion that the process may not 
be cheapened and improved. Professor Schoenbein may have a method 
of greater simplicity and economy than those employed by the numer- 
ous experimentalists who have followed in the track of his brilliant 
discovery. I have already tried many modifications of the acid method 
but without success.* One plan still remains for experiment which pro- 
mises better than the rest, and which I shall bring as soon as possible 
to the test of a conclusive trial. I allude to the employment of nitric 
acid previously or simultaneously submitted to the influence of a power- 
ful voltaic current, sufficient to decompose the constituent water of the 
nitric acid, and thus render this more suited to the conversion of the 
cotton fibre into eyanic acid or cyamelide. 

I have to add that I have been enabled by the kindness of Mr. 
Rogers and Mr. Blechynden, to make adequate trials of the Akundoo 
and Simal fibres—Manilla and other kinds of Hemp—Jute—Flax— 
Plaintain and Aloe fibre; and that I have given fair trial to every kind 
of cotton I could procure. I have also examined the explosive com- 
pounds made with wood shavings, saw-dust, unsized paper, &c. The 
general result is that cotton affords the best preparation—and the better 
the ordinary quality of the cotton, the stronger and more permanent 
is the explosive it affords. 

I have also tried (but merely for trial sake) the finely divided char- 
coal obtained by igniting cotton in close vessels—of this carbon 100 
parts of the best Banda cotton yield 17} to 18. As might be inferred 
from the theory of the process, no explosive compound was generated— 
no constituent water having beee associated with the carbon, no substi- 
tion of a nitrogen compound could take place. 

An economical mode of manufacture once discovered, which would, 
bring cotton and powder to equal prices, range for range,—and the use 
of the new explosive confined strictly to that of the very best kind,— 
there remains no objection which I have heard of—no fault which I have 
myself observed, which may not be fairly found with the best kinds of 
powder also, Meanwhile although the gun cotton be too costly for 
military use, and further experiments are required on the effects of long 


* Using for instance Anhydrous nitrous acid, prepared by distilling ‘the dried 
nitrate of lead—mixtures of dried sulphurous acid and nitric oxyde gases. 


1847. ] Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 189 


storing on the powers of even the best kind, I confidently recom- 
mend Mr. Siddon’s preparation to the sportsmen of Bengal. Those who 
once try the smokeless cotton in a tiger encounter will not readily fore- 
go its use for this and similar purposes. I should add that it is not 
suited for the patent breech, but it answers admirably in the military 
two-grooved rifle. I have no apprehension about its alleged bursting 
properties. I have now used it with pistols and rifles, and witnessed its 
use with cannon and mortars to such an extent, as to warrant my expres- 
sing the most decided opinion, that regarding the best kind of cotton 
as 4 times the strength of powder all ordinary proportional charges 
may be used with but the same risk as would be attendant on the explo- 
sion of powder. The extraordinarily effective use of cotton in miming or 
blasting has been already proved by the extensive trials made in Europe. 
Here again cost is the only objection to be vanquished. 

I should not conclude however without stating for the consolation of 
the powder interest that for the manufacture of rockets the cotton is 
apparently useless—neither would it produce the effect of powder if 
fired in bags against a gate, asin the memorable instance of Ghuzni; 
nor can it be used in the loading of Shrapnell shells. 

I have now endeavoured to give an impartial account of the merits and 
defects of this new explosive. In the hands of the Artillery officers at 
Dum-Dum it could not but have met a candid and liberal trial—and al- 
though the Select Committee with myself may be but of one opinion as to 
the present inapplicability of gun cotton to military purposes, all must 
participate in the feeling that the utmost credit is due to Professor 
Schoenbein for his most interesting and promising invention. 


TABLE 
Of observations on hygrometric properties of the best kind of Gun 
Cotton. 

The cotton used was of the finest kind, 100 grains were dried till it 
ceased to loose weight, were placed in the left pan of a Kater’s balance, 
sensible to 1, of a grain. The frame of the balance was perforated so 
~ as to allow the air to circulate freely through it. 
6th February, 1847, 4 p. m. grains 100.00 Remarks. 
MME, oy fe iva Atte nie 1?) SEOs » 100.40 

2 p.m. -,, »100:25 
4p. m. 33 *L00.20 


18th, 


Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [FEs. 


eevscseesee##ee 


100.47 
100.25 
100.60 
100.44 
100.67 
100.74 
100.84 
100.94 
100.54 
100.90 
100.64 
101.14 
100.80 
100.60 
101.20 
100.90 
100.74 
100.63 
100.43 


101.07 
101.20 
100.43 
100.97 
101.00 
100.95 
100.83 
100.93 
101.23 
101.33 
101.30 
100.80 
100.63 
100.55 
100.40 
100.23 

99.96 
100,30 


‘Remarks. 
Night cloudy, W. S-. 


Clouded all day. 


Very cloudy. 


A thick mist. 


Day bright. ; es 
Thick mist. sine 
House opened up a few 


minutes previous to ob- 
servation. 

Thick fog. 

Some rain at 9'a. m. 


Sky overcast ; Therm. 74°. 
Occasional showers all day. 
Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Clouded all day. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Sky bright, W. N. W. 
Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Therm, 74°. 


1847. ] Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. 191 


Remarks. 


» 100.50 Sky overcast all day. 
Therm. 72° 4 p. m, 

Sam, ,,.100:50. Ditto. 

4p.m. ,, 100.30 Ditto. 

6. p. ma"; 100°40> Ditfo. 


eee 7a. 7m 


St 7a.m.  ,, 100.74 Sky bright. Wind N. E. 
Therm. 64°. 
91 a.m. ,, 100.54 Ditto ditto. 
noon. > £OO%D4 
2p.m. ,, 100.44 Scattered clouds. Therm. 
va . 


5p.m. ,, 100.34 Ditto ditto. 
5i p.m. ,, 100.14 After opening of the win- 
| dows of the house. 


Op. Wa oa, 100-24 


MEME e's wc ne ss ss 7 a. Ws 5, 100.44 Sky. brieht.:) -W.UN CE. 
Therm. 63°. 
Sam.) |, 100.40: Ditto ditto: 
5p.m. ,, 100.20 Ditto ditto. Therm. 73°. 
eee cin nt wield <0 7 8s, 10s, 010501000 Sky bright... Wey) Nek. 
Therm. 64, 
Sa. TOOLAD 
| o peti. -..,, lOU.b0- Pherm,/4°. 
Oy tae ------:- 10am. ,, 100.90 Cloudy. 
opm. ),, 100,25 Clear. \ ‘Therm.’ 76°. 
7p. i. 33> 100.29. Ditto. 
Bee ese. ee 7 au, 5, .'00.09 ‘Thick fog. Therm..72°. 
OMI | 5,5 OOS 
5p.m. ,, 100.23 Bright. 
eee es em. 4. 101.00. Foes: Therm: 73°. 
4p.m. ,, 100.63 Bright. Therm. 81°. 
A ee 7a, it... 45° FOW20 Boe. Therm. '74°." WS, 


47 p.m. ;, 100.73, Bright... Therm..83°°WeS. 
doors and windows open- 
ed just after observation. 

5p.m. ,, 100.63 Bemg a loss of 00.10 in 
25 minutes. 

ME, vier 7a.m. ,, 101.13 Fog just cleared off. 
8a.m. ,, 101.20 Bright. 


192 Memoranda on Explosive Cotton. [FEs. 


Se a.m. ,,° 101.10 Thermo”. 

103 a.m. ,, 100.50 

lla.m. ,, 100.40 Therm. 80°. 

12 +4. 41 00.30 
2pm. 4; 100:30 
Ame Qa tuigy, 100.34 
5)peMs« vin, 100.30 
Gp.m. 5, 100.24 

Ist March, 1847... Za.m.  ,, 100.70 Partial clouds. W.S. W. 
Therm. 73°. 


3p. 8. 4, 100.60 Ditto ditto. 

4p.m.  ,, 100.00 Ditto N. E. Therm. 84°. 

6p.m. ,, 100.20 Ditto ditto. Therm. 84°. 
Be Pot A Shee zp8am.,, 99.80 Bright. N. KE. strong 


breeze. Therm, 74°. 
1 aA Se 99.40 
Sopsm.),,* 99.56 “Ditto: Thermaaa’: 
Op. mai. 4.8 9970 
3d, no observation. 
Athy eee oe OC peme 4 99:50 Wal) Ee eee 4 


Estimate showing the actual cost of manufacturing 3 Ibs. of Gun Cotton, mixed 
quality. Acids at Calcutta prices.— 


Description of Articles. Quantity. Cost. Total cost in Co.’s Rs. 

Rs: A.B, 
Nitric Acid,........|/Tolas651=17ilbs. |(@12 as. per lb. io toe 
Sulphuric ditto, ....|Ditto 840 = 21] lbs, |@ 2 as. per lb. Z-12°°3 
Banda Cotton,......|Ditto100 = 3 lbs. |@I16Rs. per md. 0 8 0 


Total... 2.10 208 
Equal to 5rs. 7ans. 8 p. per lb. mixed, = to 10. 15. 4 for 1 Ib. of the dest kind. 


An estimate to manufacture 14 lb. of best Gun Cotton, assuming that the cost 
of Nitric Acid ought only to be 3 as. per lb. and that + of the Acid can be reco- 
vered by re-distillation, after use. The Sulphuric Acid not to be charged, as nearly - 
the whole of it is recovered by reconcentration. 


Description of Articles. Quantity. Cost. Total cost in Co.’s Rs. 
Rs. A. P. 
Nitric Acid,......../Tolas651=174lbs. |@3 as. per lb. a 4° 9 
Sulphuric ditto, ....|Ditto 840 = 21lbs. [@ Nil Nil. 
Banda Cotton,...... |Ditto 100 = 3 lbs. |@I16Rs. per md. 0 8 0 


Total, .smayo. peo 8 
Equal to 2 rs. 9 ans. 6 p. per lb. 


1847.] Examination of some Atmospheric Dust. 193 


Heamination of some Atmospheric Dust from Shanghae, forwarded to 
the Asiatic Society of Bengal by D. J. Maccowan, Esq. M. D. 
Ningpo Hospital, by Henry Pippinetron, Curator Museum of 


Economic Geology of India. 
SHOWER OF ASHES OR DUST. 


To H. Torrens, Esq. Vice-President and Secretary of the Asiatic Society. 
Ningpo, June 5th, 1846. 


S1r,—I beg to enclose for the Meteorological annals of the Asiatic Society, 
the subjoimed communication from Mr. Bellott, the scientific surgeon of H. M. 
Ship Wolf. I have been unable to obtain any mformation from men, or 
books, in relation to showers of ashes (such things readily escapmg the notice 
of Chinese observers) though from the proximity of this part of the coast of 
China, to the voleanic chain which girts the eastern and southern shores of 
Asia, and the force of the N. E. Monsoon, phenomena of this description 
might be occasionally expected. I have however learnt from Dr. Robertson 
of H. C. Steamer Nemesis (stationed at this port) that on the day in question 
(viz. 15th March,) he and some other officers noticed similar appearances to 
those described by Dr. Bellott, vegetation being covered with sand, and parts 
of the vessel, and the atmosphere misty. Wind was N. EK. At the time I was 
absent at Chusan, where I am not aware that any sand or dust was perceptible. 
If I may presume on an opinion I should refer the phenomenon to voleanic 
action, and probably emanating from Mount Fusi, on the island of Niphon, the 
chief of the Japan archipelago. The altitude of Mount Fusi is about 14,000 
feet, and it is regarded by the Japanese with awe, and wonder. Kzmpfer says, 
that “Poets cannot find words, nor painters skill and colours sufficient to 
represent it as they think it deserves.” It is subject to frequent eruptions, 
accompanied with earthquakes, which have destroyed vast numbers of villages. 
In the eruption of 1707, cinders were carried ten leagues, and ashes fell seve- 
ral inches thick at Dezima. The phenomenon referred to, although occurring 
in the remotest field of the Society’s domain, is not, I think, without some 


degree of interest. I forward the small packet of sand transmitted to me by 


Mr. Bellott. 
Yours very truly, 
D. J. MacGowan. 


Copy of a letter from Thomas Bellott, Esq. Surgeon R. N., Fellow of the Royal 
College of Surgeons, to Dr. Macgowan. 


H. M. Sure Wo ur, Shanghae, March 16th, 1846. 
My pear Sir,—I transmit an account of a descent of fine sand that 


occurred at this place yesterday. On the 15th, the wind was N. N. E. in 
2D 


194 Examination of some Atmospheric Dust. [Fes. 


force, No. 1; N. E. No. 2; E.N. E. No. 3; N. E. and calm at daybreak ; what 
was considered an ordinary mist was observed ; but those officers who walked 
on shore at that time, noticed their shoes and trowsers dusty. This also I 
experienced in the afternoon. After 8 A. M. dust was perceptible on the 
guns, on the upper works, and other polished surfaces on deck. I collected as 
much as possible ; on gathering the dust on the finger, and holding it in the 
rays of the sun, which consequently shone with half its brilliancy, the par- 
ticles glittered, and the sand although impalpable between finger and thumb, 
was gritty between the teeth. The sand passed the ship in light clouds, when 
the light airs freshened ; it was something like smoke, but not of a blue co- 
lour. At 2 P. M. I walked three miles into the country, the whole atmosphere 
appeared to consist of a light brown dusty colored mist ; this was the uniform 
appearance the whole day. The plants were covered. The sun set, appa- 
rently more diminished in his diameter than on a frosty evening, and of a 
pale white, sickly hue. At 10 P. M. I spread two large newspapers to catch 
the sand ; they were kept spread until half past one medid nocte ; yet although 
the sand descended and lay on the guns, none fell on the paper; whether 
from electric attraction or not Ido not know. The stars, although the sky 
was cloudless, Ursa Major im the zenith, were dimly visible. The moon three 
days past her full was partially obscured, and cast a very faint shadow on my 
hand; at one medid nocte the moon and stars resumed their usual appearance, 
and at half-past one the Quarter Master observed “it was all over.” The Baro- 
meter 29. 88, from 30 inches.* If you breathed it through the mouth the sand 
gritted between the teeth. The entire surface of this district is alluvial clay, 
without pebble, or sand; the nearest sand (coarse and shelly) is 12 miles 
distant. It was said that the merchantman Denia fell in with this descent of 
sand 308 miles from any land, in the direction of Loo-choo, and also pumice 
stone was floating. As I did not see her log, I do not certify this fact. 


Yours sincerely, 
J. BELLOTT. 
D. J. Macgowan, Esg. M. D. Ningpo. 
P. S.—I forward a little of the sand. 


I should premise that the entire weight of the minute specimen of 
this dust forwarded to us did not exceed 1} grains, so that all the ex- 
periments are performed with less than pin-head specimens, but che- 
mists well know the accuracy with which these microscopic experiments 
can demonstrate the presence or absence of certain elements, and from 


* So in MSS. I presume that what is meant is, that the Barometer fel/ to 29.88 from 
30.00 1—H, P, 


1847. | Examination of some Atmospheric Dust. 195 


the details can judge at a glance if they have been correctly and care- 
fully performed. This is necessarily mentioned because I could only 
sacrifice such exceedingly minute assays, and have thus been obliged to 
refrain from further researches, as for example its specific gravity, the 
proportion of animal to mineral matter, and the hygrometric qualities of 
the dust, all of which, with many other points, it would be very satisfac- 
tory toknow. I am in hopes however that I shall receive a report, with 
specimens, upder the Admiralty order to H. M. Ships on the Eastern 
Station to report on Storms, in which other Meteorological phenomena 
are I presume included. 

The dust is an olive grey powder, cohering much together, like the 
scrapings from a paper filter, and when viewed with the magnifier is 
evidently mixed with something like hairs of two kinds, black and ra: 
ther thick white ones. Under the microscope it is evidently a congeries 
of very short transparent white, black and brown hairs or fibres, with 
some reddish, strait spines, and grains of pellucid quartz-like sand 
adhering amongst them. There was one small grain like a seed, but 
hard, which when viewed carefully appeared to be an earthy concretion. 
I unfortunately lost it and could not thus try it at the blowpipe. 

It just ‘grits’ under the nail on glass, and rubbed between two glass 
surfaces scratches them but very faintly, felting into a smooth mass from 
the quantity of fibre. I ¢hink the taste is slightly saline, but in the very 
minute quantity taken cannot be sure. Moistened on turmeric paper 
it distinctly reddens it and is thus alkaline, and contains probably the 
sub-carbonate of soda, the commonest of the alkaline salts. 


Blowpipe Examination. 


On platinum foil: held over the lamp it flames up, the fibres are 
burnt with a strong ammoniacal odour, and a grey coherent powder, like 
pumice, remains. 

2. On platinum foil alone : before the blowpipe ; this powder fused 
in the reducing flame but at one point only* and not at the detached 
portions. The fused part is a bottle-green glass, and when detached is 
found to have made a little cireular hole in the platinum, undoubtedly 
from an alkali contained in the assay. 


* Probably at one of the minute concretions noted absye, and which are not 
remarked by the naked eye, 


ye Wes" 


196 -  Heamination of some Atmospheric Dust. [Frs. 


3. The fibres, which one would assume to be capillary obsidian, if 
we supposed the dust volcanic, are not so, but apparently animal! burn- 
ing up with the common ammoniacal smell and smoke of burnt hair or 
feathers. 

4. Oncharcoal the assay burns up as before, leaving a coherent, 
olive-grey, granular mass like pumice, which is infusible. 

5. With Soda on charcoal this fuses to a reddish, dark grey, opaque 
and pearly bead with violent spitting and throwing up of little globules, 

6. When to this bead is added an equal quantity of Borax, it fuses 
on Platinum wire to a transparent bright and colourless, but crackly 
glass, which is slightly green while cooling. 

As far then, as physical and chemical characters are concerned, we 
may call our dust a congeries of light downy fibre or hairs with silex 
adhering to them and an admixture of an alkaline salt! It appears from 
Dr. Macgowan’s and Dr. Bellott’s letters that the mist and dust cer- 
tainly extended on the same day from Ningpo in about 30° N. Lat. ; to 
Shanghae in 314° N. (I use round numbers here) which gives 90 miles 
of difference of latitude, and that it was noticed with light winds from 
N. N. E. toE. N. E. from 8 A. M. to 1 A. M. or for 17 hours. Now if 
we take it to have moved only at the rate of 2} miles per hour, as “ the 
sand passed the ships in light clouds,” says Dr. Bellott (and this is the 
slowest rate we can assign to moving clouds,) this would give 17 % 22 or 
42 miles in length for it, and without noticing the difference of longi- 
tude between Ningpo and Shanghae, which are nearly N. W. and 8S. E. 
of each other, we may say that the difference of latitude, 90 miles, was 
the breadth. We have thus 90 x 424 or 3825 square miles for its extent! 

Where could a cloud of 3800 square miles of fibres, alkali, and sand 
(for this it was by the specimens before us) come from? 

We have seen that it is not in the least volcanic, its animal nature 
putting this wholly out of the question, and all the volcanic dusts upon 
record are for the most part fusible and pulverulent (like pumice or 
obsidian) while the residuum of ours is perfectly infusible—for the 
little globules are, as I have stated, properly the only fusible parts, being 
the alkaline concretions. I shall now proceed to show that though the 
wind was from the N. E. and the phenomena occurred while the N. E. 
monsoon was yet blowing, that in all meteorological probability the 


dust did not come from the N. E. but from the N, W. or W. N, W. 


1847.] Examination of some Atmospheric Dust. 197 


For it is now a well recognised fact that the higher currents of the 
atmosphere are north, say at the polar circles, and become north- 


_ westerly and gradually westerly as they approach the equator, although 


the trades are easterly and the monsoons alternating in their direction, 
and we know also that volcanic ashes and other light matters are often 
carried from the west fo the eastward by this great upper stream of 
westerly wind. The fall of the ashes of the volcano of Cosseguina at 
Jamaica in 1835, 800 miles to the North-East of it and consequently 
directly against the trade-wind, is a decisive instance of this* and I do 
not mention others for brevity’s sake. 

We are assured moreover that our dust must have come from the 
land by its semi-animal constituents, and that it must have come there- 
fore originally from some quarter to the westward of the meridian of 
Ningpo, for tothe eastward is the ocean, and as it was brought down by 
a north-easterly current below, that it must have come from the north- 
ward. In the north-west then seems the most probable direction to 
suppose it was originally carried into the atmosphere, as I shall pre- 
sently show, that it is improbable it could have come from Corea or 
Japan. We may also note here, that Dr. Macgowan himself certifies 
that no dust fell at Chusan, where he was; Chusan lying north-east of 
Ningpo. Hence it was either too high to fall there or it came at least 
from the north-west. The report of the ship I do not notice here, 
her position being uncertain, and no time given, and Loo Choo bears 
about South-East from Shanghae, which would make the dust come 
from the N. W. 

The volcanic ashes and dust are, it is always supposed, and this is 
most probable, projected far enough into the atmosphere, or carried up 
by the whirlwinds which volcanic eruptions undoubtedly create, high 
enough to enter the upper currents of the winds, but volcanic action 
is out of the question here, and we must look for other causes. 

Frogs, fish, seeds, pollen, &c. are well known to have been carried 
up by whirlwinds and horizontally to great distances by currents of 
air before their fall, and on a larger scale we have the fine dust of the 
Sahara, which is often carried up and falls far out at sea about the 


* Ashes from the same volcano fell also on board H. M. S. Conway, in the 
Pacific, 1200 miles to the westward of it. Jorullo, Tuxtla and St. Vincent, are cases 
too well known to be detailed, of ashes carried to the N. EB. 


198 Examination of some Atmospheric Dust. [Frs. 


Cape de Verd Islands. There is nothing extraordinary then in sup- 
posing that this dust was originally raised by some such cause as a 
ereat storm or whirlwind, and that it might be carried by the superior 
current to a very great distance before it fell. It was probably also 
raised in a very dry state, and one cause aiding its fall might be tha 
absorption of the humidity of the air as it approached the ocean, hair be- 
ing highly hygrometric, and hence the difficulty of supposing it to have 
erossed any great extent ofsea, asit must have done to come from Corea 
or Japan. Itis evidently, by Dr. Bellott’s description, so light that 
(which appeared to him very unaccountable), it obeyed strictly, like a 
part of the atmosphere, the laws which regulate the deposition of dew ; 
for it was deposited on the guns and other quickly radiating bodies but 
«would not settle’ on his newspaper! He forgot that the paper, being a 
non-conductor of the highest order, prevented the radiation from the 
deck in that part, and thus keeping it at a little higher temperature 
prevented the depositing of the dew, which in this case was carrying 
the dust with it. 

It is a startling thing to say, and I do it with all caution, but it is 
quite within the limits of possibility, if not of probability, that this dust 
came originally from the steppes of Tartary! and the presence of an 
alkaline salt in it is no small addition to the probabilities. The 
nearest part of Mongolia without the Great Wallis only about 675 miles 
from Shanghae, a distance to which a light mass, half dust and half fibre, 
might easily be carried, especially if raised as it would be there, in a 
perfectly dry state; the dry winds of Tartary, and the Pak-fung or 
dry north wind of China which splits and cracks up in an hour the most 
seasoned wood work, are well known. 

P. S.—Since this paper was written, the dust has, through the kind 
assistance of Dr. Cantor and Mr. J. W. Grant, C. S. been examined by 
much more powerful microscopes than I possess, and these gentlemen, 
together with Major Munro, pronounce the fibres to be Confervee, and 
not hair. Some of these bodies may afford the ammonia in combus- 
tion of which the smell is so strong and distinct as to lead us to sup- 
pose, without this correction, that the fibres are hair.. 

Assuming then these to be Confervee, we have to the North-Kast- 
ward as before, Japan and Correa; and to the Westward and North- 
Westward the Poyang, Tai-you, Hong-tze and other great inland lakes 


{ 7s 
bots atl 
—_ >. 


1847. | Examination of some Atmospheric Dust. 199 


of China, some or most of which are shallow (jheels?) and might 
furnish vast quantities of remains of conferve on their inundated 
banks and flats. 

In a paper by Mr. Darwin in the Journal of the Geological Society for 
1845, on the fall of the Fine Dust in the Atlantic, which had escaped 
my notice and which Mr. Laidlay has been good enough to point out 
to me, mention is made not only of small but of coloured parti- 
cles of stone ;,1,,'" of an inch square, with some few a little larger, and 
much fine matter; but all the dusts examined by Mr. Darwin fuse 
under the blowpipe. Professor Ehrenburg finds that this dust contained 
no less than sixty-seven forms of Infusoria, that is of their siliceous 
tissues, but none of the soft parts remain. We may observe too that 
the whole of the dust falling on the Eastern side of the Atlantic comes 
from the neighbouring shores of Africa. 


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PROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 


Fesruary, 1847. 


The usual monthly meeting was held at the Society’s house on Wed- 
nesday the 10th of February. 

The Hon’ble Sir J. P. Grant, in the chair. 

The minutes of the preceding meeting having been read by the 
Senior Secretary— 

Major Marshall objected to the manner in which vacancies in the 
Committee of Papers had been filled up at the last meeting, and said 
that election lists for all office-bearers ought to have been distributed. 
He then moved for a new election of all officers of the Society. 

The Senior Secretary stated that it had been the practice of the So- 
ciety for the past twelve years to do as had been done at the last meet- 
ing. 

Major Marshall still pressing his proposition, it was moved by the 
Lord Bishop, seconded by Colonel Forbes, and carried with but one dis- 
sentient voice, that at future annual elections lists for all office-bearers 
be distributed according to the early practice of the Society. 

The minutes of the January meeting were then confirmed, 

The following gentlemen were ballotted for, and duly elected mem- 
bers of the Society :— 

Capt. W. Munro, Brigade Major, Fort William ; Capt. Ouseley, As- 
sistant Political Agent, N. W. Frontier ; Baboo Hurreemohun Sen; R. 
Jones, Esq. Hindu College; J. Muller, Esq. Mint ; Baboo Debendernath 
Tagore, and W. M. Dirom, Esq. C. S. 

The following gentlemen were proposed as candidates for election at 
next meeting :— 

The Rev. William Keane, A. M. of Emanuel College, Cambridge, 
proposed by the Lord Bishop, seconded by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 

2£ 


202 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (Fes. 


H. Thornhill, Esq., C. 8. proposed by G. A. Bushby, Esq., seconded 
by Col. Forbes. 

H. Newmarch, Esq. Professor, Hindu College, proposed by Mr. 
Heatley, seconded by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 

E. Linstedt, Esq. proposed by Mr. Blyth, seconded by Mr. Laidlay. 

Baboo Dwarkanath Bose, of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, 
proposed by Dr. Stewart, seconded by Mr. Blyth. 

W. Kerr, Esq. Principal of the Hindu College, proposed by Dr. 
O’Shaughnessy, seconded by Col. Forbes. 

Lieut. Douglas, Bengal Artillery, proposed by Captain Broome, 
seconded by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 

Baboo Debendernath Tagore, proposed by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, 
seconded by Mr. Laidlay. 

Rev. A. Sandberg, of Benares, proposed by Rev. J. Long, seconded 
by J. Ward, Esq. 

The Senior Secretary handed in the accounts of expenditure, and 
receipts, with cash vouchers for the month of January, which were 
directed to remain on the Library table for general inspection till next 
meeting. 

Read the following letter from Capt. Righy, Bengal Engineers. 

To the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Caleutta. 
Cuttack, 26th January, 1847. 

S1r,—I have the pleasure to enclose copy of an inscription from a stone ex- 
humed, a few days since, from the ruins of the stone revetment against the 
Kajoorey ruin, a work to which the city of Cuttack owes its continuance, for a pe- 
riod probably but little short of that of its existence. 

The work was so seriously damaged during the last rainy season, as to render 
necessary the preparation of an estimate for a new line of works, giving temporary 
repairs merely to the old one; and it was in clearing away the ruins for the latter 
purpose that the stone came to light. From its position when discovered, it would 
appear to have been concealed, by a facing of stone given subsequently to the 
work in which it had been fixed as a record. 

I may add that the letters on the stone (a basalt) are as sharply defined as if cut 
yesterday. 

I shall be greatly obliged by your favoring me with a translation of the inscrip- 
tion, 

I remain, Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 
A. Rieuy, Capt. Engineers, 


1847.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 203 


eH yg) sf 4 cha sldgh edyo Klos yA ty! yo Gyles Gy! jle 
ut! je wt eleils oT TERS) Kb y 90 sty aut wab slash pte doom” 
rable dus” Guat ld bollgt sly wlsdle slob obsor 5d of! 
(EyFP Sky wg Hm Ely lw y coi slbolk vle*l |, IS wlS 
il os wld 5b dex” sod Sou tele wl osil 9 msl ¢ 339 nea 
@ obT_ 5b sol 
TRANSLATION. 


The foundation of this building was laid at the close of the reign of the king of 
heavenly court, Nooruddeen Mohummud Jehangeer Badshah. May sanctity attend 
his resting place! and it was completed during the commencement of the reign 
(may it be perpetual) of the king of the world, father of victory, star of religion, 
Mohummud, second Lord of felicity, Shah Jehan Badshah Gazi, in the year 1037 
Hijri, by a servant of the court, Mohummud Baker Khan Nujumussani,* inhabi- 
tant of the city of Bakerabad,—Architect. 


Read the following extracts from a letter from Capt. Kittoe, to the 
Senior Secretary. 


‘¢ Sherghatti, 29th January, 1847. 

‘* By this day’s dawk I have forwarded a packet of impressions and copies of 
inscriptions to Mr. Bushby’s office, so pray send there for them that they may be in 
time for this meeting. I have kept back a good many, wishing to prepare them 
properly. 

‘*T have I find, four of the most ancient inscriptions, more than had hitherto been 
noticed, being three from one place and three from another ; the first three only differ 
in the initial name ; the next are a pair (with the same difference) and the third en- 
tirely so. They are all unluckily mutilated; the pair have the same three letters 
struck out of each, and the quaint sentence ‘ Bodhist likha’ in an ancient San- 
scrit type. This has been translated by Prinsep as Bodhisool afyew. It is certainly 
as like the one as the other ; my version is ‘ Writing of Budhists’—his ‘ the root of 
the Bo-tree ;’ in another sense the ‘ root of knowledge,’ the letters of the ancient 
writing have evidently been hammered out purposely. I have satisfactorily made 
out so much of the sentence, ‘The beloved raja in the 12th year of his reign 
caused this cave,’ &c. &c., but I am forestalling a long article I propose 
editing on the caves. Suffice it to say that I am inclined to give far more remote 
date to these inscriptions than has been hitherto accorded. I believe the 
‘Dasarath’ named to be the identical person of ‘ Puranic’ fame, the father of 
Ram, and that ‘ Devanam-piya-dasa raja’ is only a title common to the Gupta 
rajas and those preceding. Oh, that poor James Prinsep were alive to enjoy the 
discoveries I have made, how we could have helped each other. 


* «A second Luminary.” 


204 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Frs. 


‘* | am preparing tinted drawings on a good-sized scale of all my Budhist sculptures. 
It is however hard work. In sketching very fast, I draw more in one day than I can 
copy and finish up in three or four. I go to the caves again to-morrow; it is 36 
miles hence. I hope to have all ready for March meeting, when I shall be in Calcutta 
myself in all probability.” 


The inscriptions and paper were laid before the meeting and referred 
to the Committee of Papers for examination. 
Read a letter from Mr. Secretary Melvill. 


No. 73, of 1847. 
From P. MEtvitu, Esg. To the Secretary to the Asiatic Society. 
Fort William, the 23d January, 1847. 
S1r,—I am directed by His Honour the President in Council to transmit to you, 
for such notice as the Society may deem it to merit, the accompanying copy of a 
Journal of a Steam trip to the north of Bagdad, by Lieut. J. F. Jones of the Indian 
Navy, together with the sketches therein alluded to, which you will have the good- 
ness carefully to return to this office. 
I have the honor to be, Sir, 
Your most obedient Servant, 
P. MELVILL, 
Officiating Under-Secretary to Government of India. 


The document and drawings were referred to the Committee of Papers. 

Read a letter from the Secretary to the Superintendent of Marine, 
forwarding Meteorological registers from Kyook Phyoo. 

Read a letter from the Rev. Dr. Heeberlin respecting his edition of 
the Smritis now in course of publication. 

(See Report on Society's affairs inserted in Jan. number. J 

The Senior Secretary having communicated a proposition from the 
Committee of Papers recommending that Dr. Heeberlin’s offer be 
accepted, 

It was resolved unanimously that the Asiatic Society subscribe for 
100 copies of each Vol. of the Smritis, the amount to be paid from the 
Oriental Fund. 

Read a letter from the Baron Melvill de Carnbee, dated the Hague, 
21st December, forwarding eight numbers of the Moniteur des Indes 
for the Society’s acceptance, 

A Monsieur le Secrétaire de la Asiatic Sociely de Calcutta. 


Monsizur,—Je me rappelle toujours avec plaisir, Monsieur, que lors de mon 
court séjour a Calcutta, de Mars 1845, j’eus l’extréme honneur et avantage de faire 


1847. ] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 205 


votre connaissance. J’étais alors en voyage de Java en Europe, et je me serais 
arrété plus longtemps en Bengale pour des recherches Scientifiques, si le choléra 
ne m’eut fait changer subitement de plan. Aprés avoir éprouvé une attaque 
de cette maladie et avoir perdu mon domestique européen, j’avoue que je 
me comptais trés heureux de m’embarquer, sain et sauf, 4 bord de 1|’Hin- 
dostan. Cependant, avant mon départ j’avois eu le temps de m/’acquit- 
ter d’une commission dont j’étois charge par la Société des Arts et des Sciences de 
Batavia aupres de la Societe asiatique de Calcutta, ayant pour but de nouer des rela- 
tions ét d’etablir une correspondence entre les deux Sociétés ci dessus nommées. 
Je fus assez heureux d’emporter la conviction quel’on partageait 4 Calcutta nos 
vues quant a l’utilité d’un tel rapprochement, et cela me fait conjectuzer que mes de’- 
marches aient eu le résultat espéré. 

Quelques mois aprés mon retour en Hollande, étant placé au Ministére de la Ma- 
rine pour achever mon ouvrage sur l’hydrographie de 1’ Archipelago indien, j’ai fondé 
en méme temps, de concert avec M. de Siebold, auteur de differens ouvrages sur le 
Japan, un journal, traitant des colones Néerlandaises au Asie et en Amérique, sous 
le titre de Moniteur des Indes, etc. J’ai l’honneur, Monsieur, de vous faire parve- 
nir par le présent mai/ les huit premiers numéros de ce journal, espérant que vous 
daignerez bien les presenter, de ma part, 2 votre Société comme une faible temoig- 
nage de ma profonde estime. 

Je serais heureux si le but et l’exécution du Moniteur des Indes pouvent obtenir 
les suffrages de votre Société et que dans ce cas Elle voudroit bien, par sa puissante 
influence, en favoriser le succes en Bengale. 

J’ai Vhonneur d’étre, avec une parfaite estime Monsieur, 
Votre devoué serviteur, 
Baron MELVILL DE CARNBEE. 
Hollande, La Haye ce 21 Décembre, 1846. 


The Senior Secretary submitted the annexed recommendations by the 
Committee of Papers. 

The Committee having considered Dr. Roer’s representation of the 
total incapacity of the Pundit, recommend his being dismissed. 

With reference to a letter from H. M. Elliott, Esq. desiring to have 
certain MS. from the Library sent to him to Agra on depositing the 
value thereof. 

The Committee deeming it impracticable to assign a value to MS. and 
considering these exposed to great risk of loss or injury in transit, regret 
they cannot advise compliance with Mr. Elliott’s wishes, but they will 
gladly direct any assistance to be given at the Society’s cost by having 
MS. or extracts therefrom copied by the Library establishment for 
his use. 


206 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Frs. 


The Committee submit a proposal from Mr. Frith for the patronage 
of the Society to a projected work by Mr. Doubleday on Diurnal Lepi- 
doptera, and recommend that the Society subscribe for two copies and 
advertise the work gratuitously on the cover of the Journal. 

Mts. Ballin having applied for orders to colour 14 sets of the Burnes’ 
drawings already lithographed and which Mrs. B. states are in danger 
of spoiling—and it having been ascertained that the cost of colouring 
the said drawings would be Rs. 1,379 12 annas, the committee advise 
that no further outlay be made on this account. 

All which propositions were unanimously agreed to. 

The Report on the Society’s affairs, read at the January meeting and 
subsequently printed and circulated to resident members, having been 
brought up, was briefly discussed, and a few verbal or typographical 
alterations having been suggested and agreed to, the Report was unani- 
mously adopted and the propositions it contams thereby voted as rules 
of the Society. ‘The Report is published in the January number. 

The Librarian submitted the usual list of donations, purchases and 
exchanges. 

PRESENTED. 
1.—Meteorological Register, kept at the Surveyor General’s Office during the month 
of December, 1846.—From THE SURVEYOR GENERAL’S OFFICE. 
2.—Meteorological Register, kept at Kyouk Phyoo, during December, 1846.—By 

THE SUFERINTENDANT OF MARINE. 
3.—The History of the British Empire in India, by E. Thornton, Esq., vol. VI. 

—By THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT. 
4,—The Calcutta Christian Observer for February, 1847.—By tux Epirors. 
5.—Report of the Managing Director to the Board of Directors, &c. of the East 

India Railway Company, with a map.—By THe Company. 
6.—Theodori Gulielmi Johannes Juynboll, Commentaria in Historiam Gentis Sama- 

ritanae.—By THE Curators oF THE ACADMY OF LEYDEN. 
7.—The Banks of the Bhagirathi—By tur Rev. J. Lone. 
8.—Analysis of the Abbé Dubois’ Description of the character, manners, and 

institutions of the people of India.—By tur Rev. J. Lone. 

EXCHANGED. 

9.—Journal Asiatique, quatrieme serie, Nos. 35,—6 and 7. 

10.—The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, No. 195. 

11.—The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, No. 8. 
PURCHASED. 

12.—The North British Review, No. XI. 

13.—Journal des Savans for September, 1846. 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 207 


14.—The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 120. 

15.—The Shah Nameh of Ferdusi, in Oordu verse, by Munshi Moulchund Luck- 
navi, 4 copies. 

16.—Gunje Kubii, or an Oordu version of the Akhlak Mohuseeni, 4 copies. 

17.—The Akhwan ul suffa in the original Arabic, 4 copies. 

18.—Ditto in Oordu, 4 copies. 


Read the subjoined report by Mr, Laidlay on the investigations refer- 
red to the Society regarding the Ajunta caves. The Report was direct- 
ed to be submitted to the Committee of Papers. 


Report upon the Committee of Antiquities. 


Having been honoured at the meeting of December with the command of the 
Society to report upon the proceedings of the Committee of Antiquities, I lost no 
time in searching for such documents and correspondence connected with the sub- 
ject, as might be available: but great delay having occurred in obtaining these, it 
was not till a few days ago that I was in a position to form any estimate of what 
that committee had done. 

The Committee of Indian Antiquities was appointed, as all present are doubtless 
aware, in consequence of a communication from Government requesting the assist- 
ance and suggestions of the Society in devising the best means of preserving and pub- 
lishing to the world the interesting monuments of Antiquity scattered over India 
generally, but more especially and immediately the invaluable paintings and inscrip- 
tions in the caves of Ajunta, which from their peculiarly perishable character, claim- 
ed the earliest efforts to rescue them from impending destruction. 

This communication from so high and influential a quarter, was hailed with enthu- 
siasm by the Society, as presenting not merely the highest encouragement to conti- 
nue and extend a favourite pursuit, which had already reflected great lustre upon its 
past history, but also as a rare opportunity of doing so under the auspices of 
Government, pledged, in a manner, to assistance and co-operation. The Committee 
in question was appointed accordingly, and its members,—such at least, as like 
Messrs. Webb, Heatley, Kittoe and Latter, felt earnest on the subject,—entered at 
once upon their functions with ardour worthy of the Society’s best days. The 
means of preserving and of delineating the precious remains of Ajunta, were discuss- 
ed in a series of most able minutes, in which,—each member viewing the subject 
through the medium of his own predilections—a mass of varied and instructive matter 
was thrown together, which it were well to preserve for the guidance of all such as 
have kindred researches to prosecute, 

But here, I regret to say, the labours of the Committee appear to have termi- 
nated! I havenot been able to discover that any active measures were ever founded 
upon the suggestions offered in these minutes, or indeed that the Committee 
ever even met to adopt these or any other means of fulfilling the object of their 
appointment ! 


208 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (Fes. 


How deeply this indifference is to be deplored may be gathered from a single fact 
recorded by Dr. Allan Webb, that the invaluable remains of antiquity at Ajunta are 
daily, nay hourly, being lost to the world, not merely from the inevitable effects of 
time and exposure, and from the absence of all measures to preserve them, but from 
the worse than Gothic barbarism of casual visitors, who wantonly destroy the fresco or 
remove it in fragments for the gratification of the most idle and depraved curiosity ! 
“‘ Whole yard-lengths of the painted or written inscriptions, says Dr. Webb, were 
lying in water on the floor, but were still legible when I visited these temples in 
1836. If therefore written records be most valuable, as the Vice-President and 
Secretary of the Asiatic Society seem to consider them, how important to lose no 
time in securing these precious records! The rude boar spear of the hunter, or the 
Gothic curiosity of some casual visitor will strip whole walls for some one favourite 
head! Ihave found in Bombay whole groups that had thus been despoiled !”? 

Painful as it is to listen to such details as these, it is yet more so to reflect that 
on their communication, no active measures were taken by the Committee to 
stay the work of destruction! The mouths of the caves are stated by Dr. 
Webb, to be nearly closed with rubbish, which both directs the water into them and 
prevents its exit; and the removal of this at once was strongly urged as the first 
measure of preservation that should be recommended for the adoption of Govern- 
ment. Iam not aware, however, that even this suggestion was acted upon ! 

Let us not however, dwell with vain regret upon time and opportunity lost, but 
rather arouse our energies to immediate exertion worthy of the Society that has 
already achieved so much in Indian archoeology. The question for us this evening 
to consider is, what can be done Now? And though for the most part made in 
reference to the peculiar case of the Ajunta caves, there are suggestions in the 
minutes of the Committee which, I humbly conceive, the Society cannot do better 
than act upon at once. Amongst these the recommendations, that a duly qualified 
person be deputed by Government to make accurate drawings of the painting, 
sculpture, inscriptions, and other remains of antiquity scattered throughout the 
country, and to adopt such measures as may seem essential, for the better preserva- 
tion of such objects henceforward, is one so obviously appropriate that the Society 
will, I think, concur in approving it. This point has been very fully considered in 
an able minute by Captain Kittoe, who I need not remind the Society has already 
distinguished himself by his zealous and indefatigable antiquarian researches, to which 
the past volumes of the Society’s Journal bear ample and lasting testimony. This 
officer concludes an excellent minute evincing great knowledge of the subject combined 
with untiring zeal, by proferring his personal services through the Society to Go- 
vernment, for the investigation and delineation of all objects of antiquarian interest 
wherever found; a field too vast, perhaps, as sketched by himself, for any 
single individual, however energetic ; but to a portion of which his talents and zeal 
might undoubtedly be directed with the happiest results. 

That Captain Kittoe’s offer was not acted upon, arose I believe, in part from the 
circumstance of that gentleman having been appointed soon after toa very important 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 209 


office, and in part from a feeling of delicacy entertained by the Committee in inter- 
fering in any way with the patronage of Government. But certain it is that it were 
no easy matter to find a person better qualified by taste, experience, and skill for 
the congenial task he here volunteers. Whether the services of this gentleman are 
still available, I have no means of knowing: but if so, it may be left to the meeting 
to consider whether a representation to the foregoing effect should still be submitted 
to the Government, or what other measures should be adopted to carry out the wishes 
of the Hon. Court of Directors as expressed in their letter to the Governor General 
in Council, 29th May, 1844. 

The caves of Ajunta are now indeed, under the orders of the Madras Government, 
being satisfactorily investigated ; but the field is yet vast, and with the Society will 
remain the credit of having improved, or the discredit of having neglected so fair an 
opportunity of promoting at once its objects and its reputation. 

Before concluding this report, I may be allowed perhaps to observe, that the pre- 
sent neglect of Indian Archceology may in a very great measure be ascribed to the 
interrupted publication of the Society’s Journal. For many months little has been 
known of our proceedings beyond these walls: not to the public only, but to distant 
members and contributors, have these been a sealed book; a circumstance emi- 
nently unfavourable to pursuits such as our’s, mainly dependent as they are, upon 
the free-will offerings of widely-dispersed contributors. This defect will, it is hoped, 
be remedied henceforward : the arrears of the proceedings have already been brought 
up, and we may hope to be able in a few weeks to produce a monthly number of the 


Journal with tolerable regularity. 
J. W. Latpvay, 


Co- Secretary. 


10th February, 1847. 


Mr. Blyth submitted the following Report on the progress of the 
Zoological department during the preceding months. 


Report for the months of December, 1846, and January and February, 1847. 


Srr,—Having been absent upon an excursion to explore the jungles N. and W. 
of Midnapore, at the period of the January meeting of the Society, and the pres- 
sure of business at the December meeting having necessitated the postponement 
of the reading of my report for that occasion, I have now to bring before you the 
results of three months’ gatherings, and can scarcely, within moderate compass, do 
justice to the contribetions of our numerous supporters. 

1. From the Barrack pore menagerie, I have to acknowledge having received the 
carcass of a particularly fine female Giraffe, the skin of which is in process of being 
set up as a stuffed specimen, while the skeleton has likewise been preserved. Also 
that of a Kangaroo, that has in like manner been prepared as stuffed skin and 


skeleton. 
2F 


210 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (Fes. 


Two other large animals that have been mounted as stuffed specimens during the 
past month, are a young Bull Gayal (Bos frontalis), which I have the pleasure of 
presenting to the Society, and the male Saumer Deer (Cervus hippelaphus), which 
had been living for some years in the Society’s compound. 

2. From R. W. G. Frith, Esq., and 

3. From Mr. E. Lindstedt, large and valuable collections of mammalia and 
bird skins from the Malayan peninsula. These collections have left scarcely a 
species of the two classes mentioned, known to inhabit that peninsula, of which the 
Society still requires specimens ; and they have contributed a good deal to our 
knowledge of the rich zoology of the country in question. Assome of the deside- 
rata which these collections have supplied us with, may be enumerated—among 
mammalia, a very fine series of the Hylobates lar, also Presbytis femoralis, exam- 
ples of the Marten referred to Mustela flavigula in Dr. Cantor’s list (xv. 194), and 
some murine skins,—and of birds, Buceros comatus, male and female, Bucco qua- 
dricolor, Gecinus rubiginosus, Tiga Rafflesii, series of Centropus eurycercus, Chap- 
tia malayensis, Brachypodius criniger, A. Hay, (xiv. 557), Malacopteron majus, 
n. &., Orthotomus edela, and Rhizothera longirostris, m. and f. Some fishes also 
are comprised in Mr. Frith’s collection, pertaining to the genera Serranus, 
Mesoprion, and Murenesex , and a Monitor (vel Varanus) in that of Mr. Lindstedt, 
as also a small Crocodilus biporcatus. 

4. The Rev. J. Barbe, to whom we have been repeatedly indebted for valuable 
donations, has now presented us with a considerable number of specimens, chiefly 
of birds, collected in the Tenasserim provinces, Penang, and Malacca. From the 
first named locality, Mr. Barbe has brought a third undescribed species of Squirrel 
(all from the provinces,) for which we are indebted to his exertions ; and from Penang 
the Crypsirina varians (ov Phrenotrix temia, Horsfield), the male of Philentoma 
plumosums and other species of much interest. 

5. Mr. O’Ryley, of Amherst, has favoured the Society with an extremely in- 
teresting collection of mammalia, birds, reptiles, &c. from the Tenasserim provin- 
ces: among which may be noticed the skin of the head of an old female Rhino- 
ceros sumatranus, with the horns perfect, and which I have had properly stuffed ; 
also fine specimens of an undescribed Squirrel; and among birds, two examples of 
the Eurinorhynchus griseus (vide As. Res. vol. xix, pt. i, p. 69. and pl. ix), which 
has hitherto been considered one of the rarest of the feathered class, but which 
appears to be of very common occurrence on the Tenasserim coast, as I am assured. 
by Mr. Barbe and others. Mr. O’Ryley has sent also a Teesa Hawk, which seems 
to be the Poliornis fasciatus of Lord Arthur Hay, Madras Journ. No. XXXI, 146 
(but, if so, very doubtfully distinct from P. teesa), a Bulboul, which is the repre- 
sentative of Pycnonotus hemorrhous of Arracan ; some rare snakes, &c. &c. 

6. Mr. F. Skipwith, C. S., has likewise sent us, from Chittagong, an example 
of the Eurinorhynchus, a species which I hope soon to obtain in abundance from 
Mr. O’Ryley, and so ascertain its seasonal variations of colouring, as well as to 
receive replies to my various inquiries respecting its habits and mode of life. 


1847. | . Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 211 


7. From Capt. Phayre, the Society has been presented with a large collection of 
Arracan specimens, chiefly birds, of which the most remarkable is a very large 
species of Jora, in all probability that alluded to in Vol. XIV, p. 602, of the Socie- 
ty’s Journal. 

8. Major Jenkins has obliged us with numerous specimens of reptiles, insects, 
&c. preserved in spirit, from Assam. 

9. Mr. Thorburn, of Goalpara, has presented the Society with a collection of 
birds, reptiles, fishes, &c. from that vicinity. 

10. From Dr. R. Templeton, of Colombo, we have received a fourth case of Cin« 
ghalese specimens of mammalia and birds, comprising various objects of much inter- 
est in those classes, and several novelties which I intend to treat of elsewhere ; 
merely mentioning now that Dr. Templeton has sent a second and new species of 
Jungle-fowl from that island (Gallus lineatus, nobis), additional to the G. Stanleyi 
of Hardwicke’s illustrations—which latter has, I believe, been first verified from an 
actual specimen, previously transmitted to the Society by the same gentleman. 

11. Capt. Boys left with us, for the Society’s museum, a few specimens of bide 
procured on the route to Calcutta from the Upper Provinces, and the skull of a 
Gavialis from the Ravee river, flowing into the Indus. 

12. Mr. Birch, of the Pilot service, continues to collect for our museum such 
specimens of fishes, crustacea, mollusca, &c. as he can procure in the course of 
his professional trips to and from the Sandheads. 

13. Mr, T. H. Duncan, has sent to the museum a living specimen of Strix 
flammea. 

14. Dr. Gurney Turner, of Midnapore, obliged me, when I visited that station, 
with some Hornbills, snakes, &c. for the Society’s museum. 

15. O. W. Malet, Esq. Magistrate of Midnapore, also favored me with a magnifi- 
cent pair of Saumer horns, from Cuttack. 

16. From Sir William Jardine, Bart., the Society has received a small collection 
of British birds, including some that are very acceptable ; among which I may men- 
tion the common English Sparrow, which I had long wanted to compare with its 
Indian representative. 

And TI may conclude by remarking that during the month that I was absent 
from the museum, I collected above 60 skins of mammalia, (including of course the 
small species,) 273 of birds, and numerous reptiles, &c. ; many of which are either 
quite new to the museum, or have replaced very inferior specimens of the same. 

To treat in detail of these various acquisitions, would require more time and leisure 
than I can at present command ; but the results I hope to embody in future contri- 
butions, and indeed have already incorporated some of them in papers which are 
awaiting publication. 

I have the honor to be, Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
E. Biyrtu. 


212 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 


P. S. The large amount of duplicates that have accumulated during the last 
few months, have for the most part been distributed in collections now ready to be 
forwarded to the Hon’ble Company’s Museum, to that of the Christiania University, 
that of the Society of Arts and Sciences, &c. of Boston, United States, and that of 
the Manchester Institution. 


I have the pleasure also of presenting, on my own account, some purchased 


specimens of rare Himalayan mammalia and birds, of wae which I have long 


required for examination and frequent reference. 


For all the above communications and donations the thanks of the 
Asiatic Society were unanimously yoted. 


JOURNAL 


OF THE 


Se bee 


SLLOLOOLOLPOLOPOOFOLOFOOPPPPAPPPELPOUEYYFIILPAPALAPDAAAWAAALAAAA, 


MARCH, 1847. 


SARAARDRAILLVYIV IVP EEE MAAR RAARADARAAARRAN 


On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, formerly the capital of Ceylon, by 
Winiiam Knicuron, author of the “ History of Ceylon,” and 
late Secretary, Ceylon Branch Royal Asiatic Society. 


The ruins of the former capital of Ceylon are sitnated in the northern 
province of the island, about midway between Aripo and Dambool, on 
the road or trace which unites the two. It is distant from Aripo about 
45 miles, and from Dambool not quite 48. On both sides of it the 
road passes for many miles through a desolate and unhealthy region, 
unvariegated by any scenery of interest to take from the monotony 
of the journey. But a few native huts are now in existence on the site 
once so densely populated, and were it not for the existence of a Dis- 
trict Court, and a Government Agency there, it would probably be 
entirely deserted. Dense masses of jungle now surround the monu- 
ments of ancient civilization, amidst which are to be seen in all directions, 
granite pillars, varying in height from fifteen to twenty-five feet, and 
occurring so frequently as to give rise continually to the thought, what 
could have been their use? But before entering particularly upon 
any description of the ruins, it may not be amiss to take a brief review 
of its foundation and history. 

Anuradhapura was founded about five hundred and forty years before 
our era, by Anuradha, one of the followers of Wijeya, who had shortly 
before invaded the island. It is thus coeval with the earliest authen- 
tic facts in the history of Ceylon. The Mahawanso in noticing its 

No. III. New Sertes. 26 


214 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, [Marcu, 


foundation merely relates that it was then but a village, though sub- 
sequently a city, and that it was founded on the banks of the river 
Kadamba, the present Mulwatte Oya. The village thus early formed 
appears to have remained in its original obscurity for upwards of one 
hundred years. It was then greatly enlarged and improved by the 
usurper Pandukabhayo, who, in 437 B. C. made it the capital of the 
island. His improvements would appear to have been very extensive, 
inasmuch as the city was divided under him into four parts, over each 
of which an officer was appointed as conservator. A body of five 
hundred chandalas,* we are told, was appointed to be the scavengers of 
the city, two hundred to be nightmen; one hundred and fifty to be 
carriers of corpses ; and the same number were engaged at the ceme- 
tery. For these chandalas a distinct village was appropriated to the 
north-west of the city. We have here sufficient evidence that at this 
early period the city was already rapidly advancing to that degree of 
greatness which it subsequently attained. 

. We next hear of the advancing greatness and extent of Anuradhapura 
in the reign of Tisso the first (surnamed Devananpiatisso), on the occa- 
sion of the transportation of the sacred Bo-tree of Gotamo from the 
banks of the Ganges to Ceylon; (B. C. 307,) where it was deposited 
in the Maha Wiharo, and where, if tradition and the priests are to be 
believed, it still exists. In fourteen days, the Mahawanso informs us, 
the pious Tisso had the branch of the sacred tree conveyed from the 
port at which it landed to the capital. ‘At the hour when shadows 
are ‘most extended,” proceeds the Singhalese historian, ‘‘ the monarch 
entered the superbly decorated capital by the northern gate, in the act of 
making offerings ; and passing in procession out of the southern gate, 
and entering the Mahameyo garden, hallowed by the presence of four 
Buddhas, he, with sixteen princes raised up the Bo branch upon 
the spot where the former Bo-trees had been planted.” From this 
account it would appear that the Maha Wiharo was at that time without 
the city, although certainly not so, afterwards. From this period till 
the reign of Dutuyaimono, and in fact till about the period of the 
Christian era, it would appear that the city gradually advanced in size 
and importance, till it became the extensive and remarkable place which 
its ruins at the present day attest it to have been. 


* Low caste people. 


1847.] JSormerly the capital of Ceylon. 215 


That the three centuries preceding and the three succeeding the 
Christian era, were the years during which Anuradhapura flourished 
most, is proved by the fact that all the great buildings whose remains 
at the present day astonish us by their massiveness or size were erected 
within that period. The remains of the walls of the ancient town, 
which were erected about sixty years after our era, prove by their great 
extent the space which the city then covered. They were sixteen 
miles square, and were built due north and south, east and west, 
thus enclosing a space of two hundred and fifty-six square miles. 
Within this vast space, however, we must remember that there were, 
besides the streets and buildings, extensive gardens, and water-courses, 
which must have occupied a very considerable extent. It would be 
futile to endeavor to discover the amount of the population of Anura- 
dhapura at its most flourishing period, no data being afforded in the 
native histories by which it could be judged. That it must have been 
very considerable is evident, as well from the accounts given us of its 
importance, as from the ruins which even now exist. ) 

The first blow to its prosperity appears to have been given by a 
wavering monarch named Mahasen, who reigned in the third century, 
and who, at first becoming attached toa small and heterodox Buddhistic 
sect, employed his power in the destruction of the great buildings occu- 
pied by the more numerous and more orthodox community. At a later 
period his opinions having changed, he endeavored to restore what his 
fanaticism had formerly defaced. In the fifth century a still greater 
check to its prosperity was inflicted by a protracted struggle between 
several Malabar invaders and the royal race, in the course of which the 
capital fell, sometimes into the hand of one party, sometimes into that 
of the other, and as the struggle lasted for a period of twenty-four years, 
we will not find it difficult to picture to ourselves the injury which the 
city must have sustained in the contest. Towards the close of the same 
century it was deserted by a usurper for the rock Seegiri, mentioned in 
my former paper, and from this period till its final desertion by the 
royal line, A. D. 769, it appears to have been gradually decreasing 
nearly as fast as its rival Pollonaruwa was advancing in extent, in popu- 
lation and in wealth. In the eleventh century one more attempt was 
made by a Singhalese monarch to restore the former capital, but with- 
out success, and after this period, the notices of it by the native histo- 

2G 2 


216 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, (Marc, 


rians are few and far between, till we reach the period of the arrival of 
the Portuguese under Almeida in 1505. Indeed for so long a period 
as two hundred and fifty years previous to that event, I can find not 
even a passing allusion to it in the chronicles of the island, a proof, ¥ 
imagine, either of its utter desertion or of its extreme insignificance 
about that time. Towards the latter end of the seventeenth century it 
would appear, from Knox’s relation, that when he passed through it he 
found it completely deserted, and nothing left but the ruins of its once 
magnificent buildings to prove its former greatness. 

The reception of the branch of the sacred Bo-tree by Tisso, three 
hundred years before our era, and its plantation at Anuradhapura, has 
already been noticed. ‘To attend to this, the chief object of Buddhistic 
worship there, a college of priests was established, for whom a suitable 
building, called the Maha Wiharo, was raised ; of this there are now but 
few remains, the name having been transferred to the Bo-tree itself and 
to the pile of building or platform by which it is supported and encom- 
passed. This platform is a square erection about twelve feet high, from 
the summit of which the various branches of the Bo-tree appear issuing, 
and has nothing about it worthy of particular notice save the sculptures 
on the steps leading to a rude and recent building, through which the 
visitor passes in going to the saered tree. I know not how better to 
describe the platform by which the Bo-tree is surrounded than by 
likening it to a gigantic square flower-pot, from the earth in the centre 
of which the tree springs. The sculptures to which I have referred are 
exceedingly interesting as a monument of the state of the arts in the 
earliest ages of Ceylonese greatness. They were evidently a part of 
some other building long ago destroyed, and replaced by the rude 
wooden structure to which allusion has been made. On one of the 
stones, a large, flat step, a number of concentric semicircular arches 
have been deeply cut in the spaces, between which are admirably repre- 
sented in deep and bold cutting, the horse, the buffalo, the elephant, 
the lion, together with birds and flowers. Iwas surprised at the excel- 
lence of these sculptures, having seen nothing before of Singhalese 
workmanship, at all equal to them. Their spirit, workmanship, design 
and execution prove incontestibly that those who executed them must 
have been far indeed from barbarism. They are as superior to the 
native sculptures which I had seen elsewhere as the massive ruins of 


1847.) formerly the capital of Ceylon. 217 


Anuradhapura itself are superior to the paltry remains of Cotta or of 
Kurneyalle. | 

The earliest building whose remains still attract the attention of the 
visitor, is the Thuparamo, or Thupharamaya dagobah, erected by the 
pious Tisso formerly mentioned, three hundred and seven years before 
our era. The spot on which it was erected was said to have been 
hallowed by the presence of Gotamo himself, and the purpose of its con- 
struction was to enshrine the right collar-bone of that prophet. Consi- 
dering the great length of time durmg which it has stood, (upwards of 
two thousand years) it is in excellent preservation, and the piety of the 
present high-priest has lately re-erected the spire which had fallen, 
without taking from the appearance, or adding anything foreign to the 
original design of the structure. It is situated a short distance to the 
north of the road by which Anuradhapura is usually reached, that from 
Dambool to Aripo. The approach to it is along the ancient north 
and south street of the city, a broad and well-defined road, now cleared 
of jungle. On each side of this street large trees and low brushwood 
extend over the greater part of the adjoining lands, amidst which hun- 
dreds of square granite pillars lift their heads in lonely desolation, the 
silent witnesses of the present desertion, as they once were also of the 
busy multitudes who thronged these streets. Masses of stone cut into 
the forms of bullocks and lions are also seen lying numerously about, 
together with the fragments of sculptured columns, and the blocks of 
irregular and regular stone, usually seen on the site of deserted habita- 
tions. But one object cannot fail to strike the most inattentive in tra- 
versing the great and now grass-grown street by which he is led to the 
Thupharamaya, that is, the towering mass of the Ruanwelle dagobah, ris- 
ing on his left hand like a pyramidal hill overgrown with trees and bushes. 
A little further on he crosses what now remains of the east and west 
street, running at right angles to that on which he stands, and of equal 
dimensions, both being quite as broad as the widest streets of London 
or Paris at the present day. Near a bend in the road which leads the 
visitor in a north-westerly direction, stands one of the most extraordin- 
ary monuments of royal Singhalese refinement. It consists of an enor- 
mous trough, composed of a single block of granite, about ten feet long 
at the top, five broad, and in depth four feet—the excavation measures 
nine feet by four, being also two and a half feet deep. The tradition 


218 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, [Marcu, 


is that it was ordered by Dutuyaimono to hold his elephant’s food when 
feeding. I should imagine that six elephants could have fed from it at 
once without incommoding each other. 

The Thupharamaya is certainly the most elegant structure at Anu- 
radhapura, and exceeds in beauty all the others. The rough sketch of 
it which I annex may serve to give some idea of its present appearance. 
A very elegant and well-executed view of its aspect before the restora- 
tion lately effected by the high-priest may be seen in Major Forbes’ 
account of Ceylon. ‘The dagobah itself consists of the usual semicireu- 
lar mass of masonry standing on a square platform of flagged brickwork, 
and surmounted by a tapering spire. The entire height of the building 
above the plain on which it is situated, and including, of course, the 
platform on which it stands, I estimated at fifty feet. The columns 
surrounding it are exceedingly graceful—long, slender and well pro- 
portioned as they are, they may give us a very favorable idea of the 
taste of the artists by whom they were designed. They consist of two 
distinct blocks of granite, one forming a square base and octagonal 
shaft, both together being twenty-two feet long—the second forming the 
capital richly ornamented with small human figures standing round the 
lower part of the projecting ornament, which may be seen at the summit, 
and adding about two feet to the height of the pillars. Originally there 
were one hundred and eight of these pillars divided into four rows, stand- 
ing round the dagobah and issuing from the platform on which it stands 
—many of them are now fallen down, some have been removed and 
others lie in the positions m which they fell. 

Six hundred years after the erection of the Thupharamaya a temple 
was built beside it to contain the celebrated Dalada, or tooth-relic, 
then first imported into Ceylon. The remains of this temple are still 
visible, without having any thing about them greatly to distinguish 
them. 

On looking at the Thupharamaya, the question is naturally suggested 
to us what was the object of those pillars, and for what purpose were 
they intended? To this question I could never get a satisfactory answer. 
My own impression, however, is, that if not intended as ornaments, they 
were designed to support a roof which should stretch from the summit 
of the spire to the outer line, so as to protect the dagobah from the 
influence of the weather. It is, however, equally true that snch a roof 


1847. | formerly the capital of Ceylon. 219 


would also protect them from the gaze of the worshippers, and that it 
would require only one line of pillars instead of four to support it. 

The Thupharamaya, we can easily believe, would follow the fortunes 
of the city in which it stood. The unbelieving Malabars would show 
it little respect, although they might consider the trouble too great of 
levelling it with the ground, whilst the Singhalese monarchs would 
restore it at intervals to its first condition, or leave it to its fate, as 
piety or indifference had the ascendancy in their minds. 

The ruins which usually strike the eye of the traveller on first enter- 
ing Anuradhapura from the southern side, are. the remains of the nu- 
merous pillars which formerly supported the Lowa Maha Paya, or brazen 
place for the priests. This building, one of the largest that ever existed 
in the east, was erected by Dutugaimono, a hundred and fifty years 
before our era. One hundred and fifty years before that again, its 
erection, Singhalese tradition assures us, had been prophesied by Ma- 
hindo, the great priest of Buddhu, who arrived with the Bo-tree in the 
time of Tisso. Dutugaimono, having heard of this prophecy, the 
Mahawanso informs us, searched for a record of it said to have been 
deposited in the palace. This record, with the assistance of the priests, 
he at length found in a vase, inscribed on a golden plate. It mentioned 
his own name we are told, and gave a brilliant account of the palace he 
should build for the priests. The monarch, unsuspicious of deception; 
was delighted at the heavenly warning, and assembling the priests in 
his garden, many of whom were doubtless laughing in their sleeves at 
him, informed them that if they could but find out what kind of a 
palace the devas or heavenly spirits had, he would build them one like 
it. Nothing was easier for the priests than this; so sending off eight 
of their number (‘all sanctified characters,’ reverently observes the 
Mahawanso) to the other world, they told them to bring back a draw- 
ing of the palace of the devas. It would seem that trees grew in the other 
world also, for the eight ‘‘ sanctified characters” returned with a sketch 
of the palace of the devas drawn on a leaf, with a vermilion pencil. 
The monarch seems to have asked no impertinent questions as to the 
road they took or the reception they met with, but at once proceeded 
with the erection of the Lowa Maha Paya. It was one hundred cubits, 
two hundred and twenty-five feet square, and the same in height, being 
supported on sixteen hundred stone pillars, having forty on each side. 


220 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, (Marca, 


These with afew exceptions are all standing at present, but not in their 
original condition, many of them having been split to forward the 
schemes and lessen the trouble of future monarchs. In the centre they 
are generally twice the thickness of those on the outside. They are in 
general about twelve feet high and were evidently intended for being 
built on—the spaces between them being too small to admit of being 
separate apartments. As at first erected, the Lowa Maha Paya was 
nine stories in height and contained in each story one hundred apart- 
ments. This number seems large, but it will be found on calculation 
that one hundred apartments (supposing them all of the same size) 
each twenty-two feet square, could be constructed in the space given, 
and the cells usually occupied by the priests are much smaller. In 
the centre of this palace there was a large and splendid ivory throne, on 
one side of which stood a representation of the sun im gold, on the 
other a similar emblem of the moon im silver, and above shone the stars 
in pearl. The account of this building as given by the Chinese Bud- 
dhists who visited Anuradhapura three hundred years afterwards, con- 
firms the description of the Mahawanso. Such was the fruit of the visit of 
these eight priests “all sanctified characters,” to the deva-loka. When 
stretched upon his death-bed, Dutugaimono, anxious for his future 
welfare, asked the attendant priests respecting his hopes of happiness 
in a fature world, particularly reminding them of the palace which he 
had built for them, and on the ground of this, and his other merito- 
rious works he was promised an immediate entrance to the deva-loka, 
where he was doubtless received into that palace, the architecture of 
which he had copied on earth. The name of the “brazen palace” 
arose from its having been roofed with sheets of metal, and not with 


the ordinary tiles. 

Soon after its erection, or in the thirtieth year after the Christian 
era, the Maha Paya required considerable repairs, but it was not till 
Mahasen’s reign in A. D. 286, that it met with any very serious dis- 
aster. By that apostate monarch the entire of the nine stories were 
swept away and nothing left but the pillars which had supported it in 
the centre. To repair this destruction his son and successor Kitsini 
Maiwan in A. D. 302, was obliged to split many of the pillars in two 
in order to complete the original number. The palace was subsequently 
reduced to five stories, and gradually fell into neglect and decay until 


1847.] Sormerly the capital of Ceylon. 221 


the removal of the seat of government to Pollonaruwa, which completed 
its desertion. 

The stone pillars on which it stood are a little to the north of the 
Maha Wihare, on the south side of the trace leading to Aripo, and 
near them, are shewn the tomb of Gaimono, and the mound of earth 
on which the kings were usually burnt. A little to the south of the 
Maha Wihare and about five hundred yards from the remains of the 
brazen palace, a mound of earth, formerly a small dagobah, points out 
the place where the action between Gaimono and the usurper Ellala 
commenced, as also the spot on which Ellala fell. 

On the road to the Thupharamaya dagobah I have already men- 
tioned that the visitor sees on his left hand the conical mass of the 
Ruanwelle dagobah rising like a mountain near him. The entrance to 
this, as to most others of the ancient buildings, is through an erection 
ef modern structure, chiefly formed of wood. The site on which it is 
erected is said to have been hallowed in various ways, and the prophecy 
to which I have referred in the case of the Maha Paya, also mentioned 
that Dutugaimono should construct a Maha Thupo, or great dagobah. 
A long and tedious account is given in the Mahawanso of the miracu- 
lous manner in which the materials for this erection were formed and 
procured. When every thing had been obtained which was requisite, 
the monarch commenced the structure by digging a foundation which, 
tradition tells us, was a hundred cubits or two hundred and twenty-two 
feet deep. This is most probably exaggerated, yet as the dimensions 
are in general given with great exactness, I should hesitate before pro- 
nouncing it false. Certain it is that the stone platform on which it 
stands is massive and of enormous dimensions, being five hundred feet 
square, thus giving us a superficial extent of solid masonry of 250,000 
square feet, or upwards of 27,000 square yards. This platform is sur- 
rounded by a fosse seventy feet broad. On the sides of the platform 
are sculptures representing the heads and fore-parts of elephants as if 
in the act of emerging from the mass. Unfortunately Dutugaimono 
did not survive to see the completion of the dagobah which he had 
spared no pains to erect, and in order that he might have some idea of 
what it would be when finished, he had a spire of wood placed upon it 
of a similar form with that intended to be subsequently added of more 
durable materials. He is said to have expired in the act of gazing on 

2H 


222 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, (Marcu, 


this building, and the spot on which His Majesty reclined is still pointed 
out. At some distance on the other side of the ancient street is a 
large stone slab, which it is said covers the entrance to the interior of 
the dagobah. Ceylonese history records its having been twice pene- 
trated, once by miraculous power invoked by faith, and on another 
occasion by the sturdy arms ofan usurper’s soldiery. It is now nearly 
completely overgrown with jungle, as will be seen in the accompanying 
sketch—the original brick-work of which it is composed being only 
visible in a few detached places. The squared platform on which it 
stands and which is still well paved with slabs of granite, has been 
cleared of the brushwood with which it was overgrown by the high- 
priest, and lying on the southern side of it is to be seen a broken statue 
of Batyatisso, who reigned from B.C. 19 to A. D. 9, “and appears,” 
justly observes Major Forbes, “to have been one of those persevering 
zealots who ‘hope to merit heaven by making eartha hell.’ ’”” On the 
granite pavement are pointed out indentures said to have been worn 
out by the knees of Batyatisso during his frequent and lengthened 
prayers. The Ruanwelle dagobah appears to have suffered more from 
the ravages of Magha, the usurper alluded to, who forced a passage into 
it in the thirteenth century, than from any of the other revolutions to 
which the capital was subjected, and it does not appear that any 
attempt was ever afterwards made to restore it to its former condition. 
It was originally two hundred and seventy feet high, and would appear 
to be now decreasing in elevation with the rains of every successive 
year. When Major Forbes visited it in 1828, he states it to have been 
one hundred and eighty-nine feet in height, whilst now (in 1846) it is 
but a hundred and forty—having thus lost forty-nine feet of elevation 
m 18 years. 

The invasion of the Malabars and the flight of the king Walagam- 
bahu, has already been noticed in the account of the caves of Dambool. 
It would appear that his first act on his regaining his throne was the 
erection of a stupendous dagobah as a monument of his good fortune. 
This he called the Abhayagiri, a title compounded of a surname of his 
own—Abhaya—and the name of a Hindu sect. It was originally a 
hundred and eighty cubits, or four hundred and five feet high, and 
stood on a mass of masonry of even larger dimensions than that patti- 
cularly noticed as forming the foundation of the Ruanwelle dagobah. 


1847. | formerly the capital of Ceylon. 223 


From the great size of the Abhayagiri dagobah, together with the 
numerous other erections of Walagambahu about the same period 
(87, B. C.) it would appear that notwithstanding the recent invasion 
of the Malabars, the kingdom must have been in a very prosperous 
and flourishing condition. To the Abhayagiri dagobah was attached a 
wihare and priests’ residence, which would seem to have been for a 
long period the centre of the Buddhistic hierarchy in the island. At 
length a schism arose in the third century of our era; a small part of 
the Abhayagiri priesthood joined the heretics,—the king Mahasen 
favored them, expelled the orthodox followers of Buddhu, and spared 
no pains to raise to eminence and popularity the sect whose principles 
he had embraced. This was the period of the greatest splendour of 
the Abhayagiri, but it was destined to be but of short continuance. 
While the monarch’s partiality for the sect continued, however, the 
spoils of the Lowa Maha Paya, the Ruanwelle, the Maha Wihare and 
the Thupharamaya, all went to decorate the Abhayagiri and enrich the 
schismatics. But Mahasen soon found that whatever respect the people 
might have for his person, they had a greater for their religion, and a 
popular revolt which ensued on these changes, warned him not to 
persevere in his schemes. He accordingly gave up the minister (by 
whose advice he pretended to have been guided) to the fury of the 
populace, and by his death diverted the torrent of indignation from 
himself, The unconscious dagobah and wihare shared somewhat of the 
fate of its supporters, and though not utterly destroyed, they were yet 
very much reduced in magnificence and importance. After this period 
we still read of the Abhayagiri wihare as a common resort of the priest- 
hood, till the removal of the seat of government to Pollonaruwa, when 
it is of course to be supposed, that the ancient capital would lose the 
greater portion of its sacred inhabitants. There is little to distinguish 
the dagobah in its present condition: overgrown to the very summit 
with jungle, it affords, like the Ruanwelle and the Jaitawanaramaya, 
but a glimpse here and there of the brick-work of which it is construct- 
ed. In form it more approaches to the Jaitawanaramaya than to any 
other of the ruins, a small portion of the spire being still apparent. 
The Abhayagiri lies to the east of the Ruanwelle and Thupharamaya, 
being about a quarter a mile distant from the latter. It is at present 
about 240 feet high. 
2H 2 


224 On the Ruins of Anuradhapura, [Marcn, 


The only remaining dagobahs of which I think it necessary to speak 
particularly, are the Jaitawanarémaya and the Sankardmaya, both of 
them lying to the north of the ancient city, at a considerable distance 
from the others. The sketch opposite represents the Jaitawanarémaya 
in its present condition. In the Mahawanso it is styled the Jetawanno 
dagobah, which as the shorter name, although it is now better known 
by the former, I shall adopt. The Jetawanno was commenced by 
Mahasen as a measure of retribution to the orthodox for the destruc- 
tion which he had before caused. It was originally three hundred and 
fifteen feet high, and is still upwards of two hundred and forty. It is 
an enormous solid mass of masonry, and some idea of its size may be 
obtained by reflecting that its cubic contents are upwards of 456,000 
yards. Yet so inferior was the Jetawanno considered when compared 
with the more imposing buildings at Anuradhapura, that the Singhalese 
historian passes it over with two slight notices, each of a single line’s 
length. The Jetawanno does not appear ever to have attained any 
considerable distinction either as the scene of any remarkable events, 
or as a considerable resort of the Buddhistic priesthood. The erections 
in its neighbourhood would appear to have been at one time highly 
ornamented from the profusion of carved stones which le scattered in 
its vicinity. A massive square pillar lies by the side of the path at 
some distance from the dagobah, which on being measured, proved to 
be twenty-six feet long and a yard square, being cut out of a single 
block of granite. It must be borne in mind that although composed 
of brick, these dagobahs were originally coated with a white cement, 
which, when polished, as they were, would give them all the appearance 
of marble. There can be little doubt that originally they would have 
a very imposing effect, and that especially as seen from a distance they 
must have added great beauty and grandeur to the distant view of 
Anuradhapura. 

Of the present condition of the Lankaraémaya the accompanying 
sketch may afford some idea. It was erected by the enthusiastic and 
wavering Mahasen between the years 276 and 302 of ourera. There can 
be little doubt that it was modelled on the plan of the Thupharamaya, 
but although apparently built of more durable materials, it does not at 
all approach the original in the proportions of its columns or the excel- 
lence of its carvings. The Lankarémaya stands, like all the other 


1847. | formerly the capital of Ceylon. 225 


dagobahs, on an elevated platform, paved with granite slabs, and imme- 
diately in front of it stands a stone altar about five feet high, which 
there can be little doubt was intended for the reception of the offerings 
of the faithful. The Lankaramaya stands between the Thupharamaya 
and the Jaitawanarémaya, a little to the eastward of both—the ruins of 
a priest’s residence are in its immediate vicinity, but of a character so 
common as not to need any particular remarks. 

Other dagobahs there are in the vicinity of Anuradhapura, but great- 
ly inferior in size to those which I have endeavoured to describe. The 
Mirisiwellia, the Sailya Chaitya and the Ellala Dagobah, with many 
others of less note, are but shapeless heaps of ruins overgrown with 
jungle, with but a few pillars, or carved stones to mark their former 
importance. As I have said before, one of the most extraordinary 
characteristics of the ruins of the city is the immense number of stone 
pillars, generally square, which present themselves in every direction 
in which the visitor may turn his steps. These, with the large masses 
of the remaining dagobahs, and the immense quantity of carved stones 
that lie about the paths in all directions, will convince the most scep- - 
tical that he is treading on the ruins of a once great and populous city, 
and that those who inhabited it were to a very considerable extent 
civilized and refined. One peculiarity, if at all observant, he cannot 
fail to notice, the great superiority of the more ancient to the more 
modern structures—a superiority as decided and unquestionable as the 
greater excellence of Grecian sculpture in beauty and sublimity to the 
massive but rude masses of Egyptian architecture. 

In conclusion, let it be borne in mind that great as must have been 
the expenditure of labour and power to erect the Lowa Maha Paya, or 
the Ruanwelle, there are monuments of ancient Lanka and its people 
still more demonstrative of their former greatness. I refer to the em- 
bankments of the various tanks scattered in such profusion over the 
north of the island, and especially in the immediate vicinity of Anu- 
radhapura. To these I would point as the most conclusive evidences 
of what the power of the Singhalese monarchs once was, and I can 
only regret that my own observations have been too limited to allow of 
my entering upon the subject in a manner likely to be satistactory 
either to my readers or myself. 


LOLOLOPPPLPOLOPIIOPIIOIwoww>- 


226 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. |{Marcu, 


Notes of' an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier, in September 1846. 
By Capt. Ev. Mavven, Bengal Artillery. 


September 10th.—From Almorah to Sutralee, 13 or 14 miles, which 
yecupied us (my companion, Captain Hampton, 31st Regt. N. I.) 
from 6 till 11 a.m. our progress at first beimg much impeded by a 
heavy fall of rain, the termination as we hoped, of the season, but 
which in fact proved to be only a shadow of what was in store for us. 
The road lies over the mountain called Kaleemuth, 6,300 feet high, 
and so called, the Almorah people say, from a coarse kind of black lead 
which abounds there: the summit is of mica slate and gneiss, in 
horizontal strata. 2,300 feet below, to the west, is Hawulbagh, now 
famous like Almorah and Bheemtal, for its thriving plantations of 
tea; the visiter however, will be disappointed who expects anything 
picturesque in this cultivation, any more than in the vineyards of 
France; the shrubs being generally under four feet high, and any- 
thing but elegant in form ; the tea is made in spring; the plant flowers 
here at that season, and notwithstanding the extreme plucking it under- 
goes, produces a profusion of seed in October and November. It may 
be satisfactory to Drs. Royle and Falconer to know that even at Almorah 
the plantations suffered not the trace of injury from the snow storms of 
Jan. 26, and Feb. 2. 1847, the heaviest known to the oldest inhabi- 
tant of Keemaoon, when about 2 feet fell at Almorah, and lay for many 
days. Hawulbagh takes its name, ‘The garden of mist,’”’ from the 
heavy clouds which rest over it almost every morning during the cold 
season, at about 4500 feet elevation; the Kosilla runs about 200 feet 
below the station, which has a greater extent of level ground than any 
other in the N. W. mountains. The river is invariably known to the 
mountaineers as the Kosee, which H. H. Wilson derives from the San- 
scrit Kausika, a sheathe, probably in allusion to its generally deep 
and narrow glen; the Hindustani name Kosilla, may be from the 
Sanscrit Kausulya, “ good fortune.” It has become an axiom in the 
Geography of the N. W. Himalaya, that the Giree is the only river 
which does not rise in the snowy range: but the assertion is equally 
true of the Kosilla, and western Ramgunga of Kumaoon (the latter 
known also as the Ruput in Gurhwal) ; while the Surjoo and eastern 


1847. ] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 227 


Ramgunga originate in branches of the snowy range which for many 
months in each year are completely denuded of snow. 

Opposite Hawulbagh, at Kutarmul, there is a very large temple dedi- 
eated to Aditya, the sun; it is surrounded by a multitude of smaller ones, 
but all is now forsaken, the main pile having been so shaken by earth- 
quakes as to be dangerous. Many of the large terminal ornamental 
‘«‘ Turk’s cap” stones have been turned half round. The view from the 
summit of Kaleemuth is very fine and extensive ; to the east, are the 
dark ranges of Binsur and Jugesur; to the south and south-west the 
lofty Ghagur completely excludes Kumaoon from any view of the 
plains ; from north-east to north-west extend the snowy range, of which 
the view given in Dr. Royle’s illustrations was taken from this point. 
As might be expected it fails in conveying any just idea of the gran- 
deur of the scene, and is moreover not very correct, most of the groups 
and peaks being misnamed. What is called the Kedarnath cluster, is 
really the bastioned mass of Budreenath; his ‘“ Juwahir cluster’ is 
properly named “Trisool ;”” and the peak called Nundadevi, is m fact 
one to the east of Pindree, commonly known to Europeans in Kumaoon 
as Nundakot, No. XV. of the map. The true Nundadevi, most con- 
spicuous in nature, was perhaps clouded when the artist took his view, 
being either suppressed, or very imperfectly delineated by the peak 
marked XIII. which is really the eastern shoulder of the Trisool. 

Looking at the snowy range from this and similar points, it appears 
a matter of no difficulty to reach it; an impression produced by the 
almost total suppression in the view, of the great spurs and secondary 
ranges sent off to the south and south-west from the main range; all 
these, being seen in the direction of their length, present comparatively 
small points; and it seems to be for this reason that the mountains as 
seen from Seharunpoor, Umballah, &c. have the appearance of three 
or four long ranges, successively rising; but the moment we get 
amongst them this apparent regularity is lost, and the mountains ap- 
pear to branch in every direction. 

In common with the vicinity of Almorah in general, Kaleemuth is 
too well grazed by cattle to afford much room for vegetation. In the 
spring a shrubby Dipsacus, with lilac blossoms, is common; and in 
autumn the warmer declivities abound with the beautiful Osbeckia 
stellata, the Kookurmakree of the natives. The Scilla indica, Anquilla- 


228 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcn, 


ria indica, Curculigo orchioides, and Fritillaria Thomsoniana, all reach 
up to this point, and are abundant. 

Hence, the route follows the neck which joins Kaleemuth with Bin- 
sur; about two miles on, a Cairn, called “ Kutputiya,” occurs on the 
left hand; these heaps of stones are raised where three ways meet, 
many of the people considuring it meritorious to add a stone; a cus- 
tom well known to this day amongst the Celtic tribes of western 
Europe.* Soon after passing the Cairn, the road quits the Binsur 
route, and after passing Jak village, crosses by a rocky ascent the 
western spur of Binsur, called Bhynsooree Cheena; the northern 
aspect of this is covered with pretty thick woods of Rhododendron, 
Andromeda, &c. through which we descended to a glen, extensively 
cultivated, where a stream from Binsur joins the Takoola from Gunna- 
nath. The united stream is a rapid burn, which joins the Kosilla above 
Hawulbagh : our route lay sometimes on one, sometimes on the other 


bank, and not unfrequently in the stream itself. Rice is abundantly pro- - 


duced along the banks, and the Kodah on the higher grounds. This 
is a late crop, and suffers much from the bears; it is now infested by 


a considerable number of locusts, which we found daily hence to the. 


snows. 

Sutralee is the name of a district belonging to the astrologers of 
Almorah; and in the midst of abundance, the traveller finds himself 
like Sancho Panza, in danger of starving ; for these “ gods of the earth” 
are infinitely more liberal with their horoscopes and predictions 
of good weather and fortune than with their supplies of grass, 
ghee, and flour. We encamped in a confined but pretty spot, 
surrounded by woody spurs from Binsur and Gunnanath, neither of 
which is visible ; a rivulet from the former has cut a deep perpendicular 
gorge in the rock, on the brink of which are some old temples dedi- 
cated to Umba Debee, from whom the place is called Umkholee. A 


* One is constantly struck in India with the identity of the customs and ideas 
of its population with those of Europe, ancient and modern. A few years since at 
the Jeypoor Durbar, the sitting was prolonged to so late an hour that it became ne- 
cessary to introduce lights, on which all the chiefs got up and saluted each other, 
as if they had met for the first time inthe morning. One of them told me it was a 
common custom. Thirlwall incidentally mentions the very same as having been 
usual amongst the ancient Greeks. 


1847. ]} Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 229 


few cedars overshadow the temples, which are not remarkable. Water 
boils at 208°, or with correction of thermometer, at 20734°, giving about 
4700 feet as the elevation. The pretty white Barleria dichotoma, the 
Photinia dubia; a shrub which I took for Ligustrum Nepalense ; and 
Kadsura propingua, “ Sindrain,” are common on the banks of the 
Takoola. 

The mountain of Gunnanath, near this, is said to be very beautiful ; 
the Ghoorkas hada stockade there ; andon the advance of our troops 
toward Almorah in 1815, they were attacked from this pomt by a 
body of men under the command of Hustee Dhul; he was killed by a 
random shot, his men retreated, and the fate of Kumaoon was decided. 
This chief was uncle to the rajah of Nepal, and had been employed in the 
unsuccessful attempt on Kot Kangra. The contrast of our speedy 
capture of that celebrated fortress, is tothis moment very unpalatable in 
Nepal: and the story goes that fakeers and other travellers are warned 
under penalty of a severe beating, to conceal or deny the fact of Lahore 
being now a British Garrison ! 

Along the borders of the fields here, as at Almorah, the Perilla 
ocimoides—‘‘ Bhungera,”’ is extensively cultivated for the sake of the 
oil expressed from the seeds: it is now in flower, and will be ripe in 
October and November. 

September 11th.—To Bagesur, 12 miles; at one and half miles, up a 
pretty valley, by an easy ascent, but over a rocky road, we reached the 
erest of a ridge, called the Kurngal ka Cheena, which separates the afflu- 
ents of the Kosilla from those of the Surjoo. It may be about 5,500 feet 
high, and like all the hills in the neighbourhood, is well clothed with 
Pines, (Pinus longifolia,) as the north side is with Rhododendron, Cor- 
nus, &c.—The Quercus annulata, “ Funiyat,”’ (the “ Banee” of Simlah,) 
is a common tree on the ascent, andis large and abundant on the Surjoo 
above Bagesur, mixed with trees which one scarce expects to find 
with an oak. From the Kurngal Pass, a steep descent through shady 
woods, brought us to the beautiful valley of Chonna Biloree, watered 
by a large brook, the Jynghun, which flows round the north side of 
Binsur to the Surjoo. Biloree, a pretty hamlet, with a small temple 
amidst a clump of firs, on a conical knoll, much resembling an Irish 
Rath, lies to the right of the road, and a short distance above, to the 
left, is Chouna, another village, near which is a group of the Cheoorra 

= 


230 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, 


tree—Bassia butyracea, which does not appear to extend more to the 
north-west. It is common at about 4000 feet elevation, near Bheem- 
tal, and on the Surjoo near Ramesur; and I have even found it on the 
low outer range of hills to the north-west of Kaleedoonghee: the seeds 
furnish the so called butter, or Phoolel, of Almorah. Near Biloree sever- 
al large specimens of the Castanea tribuloides— Kutonj” or Chestnut, 
were in full flower; this tree is another instance of the approximation 
of the vegetation of Kumaoon to that of Nepal; it occurs sparingly 
in the glens of Binsur, and becomes abundant east of the Surjoo, but 
is unknown I believe in Gurhwal, &c. 

At Chonna Biloree the soil and rocks are deeply colored with red 
oxyde of iron: here the road quits the Jynghun, and turning to the 
left, soon reaches the base of the ‘ Ladder Hill,”’ so called from a good, 
but long and steep flight of steps constructed nearly to the summit, by 
Toolaram, the Treasurer of Almorah. The total ascent is about 800 
feet, 150 or 200 short of which we halted to breakfast, at a spring 
called the Bhoomka Panee. This pass is known as the Palree or 
Kurrei Cheena, and may be about 5,500 feet in height; on the left 
the ridge rises many hundred feet higher in a bold rocky bluff, on 
which is a temple to the Mychoola Debee. Close above to the east is 
the rounded “ Nynee’’ summit. With the exception of a little clay-slate, 
the whole range is of limestone, and stretches far down to the south- 
east, crossing the Surjoo near the Seera Bridge, and every where pre- 
senting to the south-west successive tiers of cliffs. This limestone 
forms the glen of the Surjoo up to the Sooring, where as at Landour, 
it is capped by a granular quartz. The view of the Himalaya from the 
top of the Ladder Hill is considered one of the finest in Kumaoon; 
but was entirely eclipsed to-day by dense clouds, which bestowed some 
sharp showers on us while at breakfast. An easy descent of three 
miles hence brought us to the Dhurmsala of Mehulee, near the village 
Patulee, erected by one Debee Sah, the brahman in charge, being en- 
dowed with a monthly salary of less than three rupees ;—this he ekes 
out by the cultivation of a garden, which he entertained a not ill-found- 
ed fear would. be plundered by our followers should he accompany me 
to the Soap-stone quarries about a mile distant ; this difficulty overcome, 
we started, and afier a slippery walk from one terrace to another, reach- 
ed one of the five or six quarries in this vicinity. So far as I could 


1847. ] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 231 


observe, the rock lies in large detached masses, but the mine had been 
apparently neglected for several years, and was choked up with rub- 
bish. The steatite is called “ Khurree ;” and at Almorah is turned into 
a variety of cups, &c. less durable and useful than if of wood. From 
the Dhurmsala to the Surjoo, the descent is very long and steep, through 
woods of superb pine ; the soil is a red clay, which with the fallen pine 
leaves, we found so slippery as with great difficulty to keep our feet. 
At the base the Cheer Gunga, a rattling stream, flows to the Surjoo, 
along the right bank of which lies the rest of the route, about 2} or 3 
miles, to Bagesur. The Surjoo is here a large and rapid river, the 
water of a whitish tinge, and perfectly impassable except on rafts sup- 
ported by gourds. Wilson gives us the etymology of the name from 
sri, to go: Gunga, from gum, to go, to gang ; and Pindur, probably from 
pud, pundute, of the same import; so strongly must the primeeval 
Hindus have been struck by the extreme impetuosity of these rivers.* 
The elevation of the valley here is between 2,500 and 3,000 feet ; it is 
narrow, with here and there a partial expansion, carefully cultivated with 
rice. The scenery is exceedingly diversified and verdant. In such a 
valley to the north-west, as that of the Sutluj, we should have little 
but arid rock ; here all is grass, wood, and swelling hills of the deepest 
green and most beautiful outline. As a drawback, the climate is con- 
sidered very unhealthy at this season, and in the months of May and 
June the winds are said to be nearly as hot as in the plains. The 
vegetation is nearly that of the Tarai and Dehra Dhoon. Robinia 
macrophylla, (Gonjh,) Rottlera tinctoria, (Rolee,) Phyllanthus emblica, 
(Amla,) Pavetta tomentosa, (Pudera,) Murlea begonifolia, (Toombre, )Sa- 
pimdus acuminata, (Reetha,) Mucuna atropurpurea, (Buldaka,) Zizyphus, 
(Bair,) Sponia, Toddalia aculeata, (Khuseroo,) and a species of Adelia, 
are common as trees, with the Photinia dubia, called Gur-mehul or 
Soond, which is also found north-west of Kumaoon ; where it occupies 
a zone reaching from 3,000 up to 7,500 feet. Among lesser plants I 
observed Centranthera hispida, Ipomcea muricata and pes-tigridis, the 
Lygodium or climbing fern (abundant in all the valleys of Kumaoon), 


* The word Pindur also denotes a feeder ; while Pindul is a bridge, a causeway, 
a passage over a river or ravine, &c. and might refer in this sense to some early 
structure at Kurnprag to facilitate the passage of pilgrims to Budureenath. 
(>) 
EN tap 


232 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcn, 


Costus speciosus, Zingiber capitatum, Curcuma angustifolia, and most 
abundant in the meadows the “ beautifully blue’ Exacum tetragonum, 
‘* Teeta-khana.” 

We found the heat in the valley oppressive, and were enjoying the 
idea of shelter in one of the deserted houses of Bagesur, now at hand, 
when to our dismay, we reached the right bank of the Gaomutee 
Gunga, which here joins the Surjoo from Byjnath, and was so swollen 
and rapid from late heavy rains as to be perfectly unfordable. While 
crouching under some thickets to avoid the sun, and most sincerely de- 
siring that the original Pontifices maximi, Sin and Death, who built the 
first bridge, according to Milton, had exercised their “ Art pontifical’’ 
at Bagesur, we perceived certain naked savages appear on the opposite 
bank, armed with a multitude of gourds, (toombas,) which they forth- 
with commenced fastening in rows about their waists, and then com- 
mitted themselves to the deep, as buoyant as so many corks, A suffi- 
cient number being attached to our charpaees, we were ferried over in 
security, but not very pleasantly ; our very unsailor-like rafts sink so 
deep that it became necessary to strip. The process of crossing is a 
simple, but very tedious one, and above two hours elapsed before our 
scanty baggage was passed over. We afterwards saw the men plunge 
with perfect indifference into the “angry flood’’ of the Surjoo itself, 
and ‘“‘stemming it aside with hearts of controversy,” reach the 
opposite shore with ease, but with great loss of distance. They even 
promised to convey us over, an offer which was declined. Falstaff justly 
abhorred a watery death, even in the placid Thames. The town of 
Bagesur stands immediately beyond the Gaomutee, on the right bank of 
the Surjoo, in a very confined spot, being closely backed by a precipit- 
ous hill. It consists of two or three irregular lines of houses, one of — 
them now washed by the river, and about 200 yards in length, some of 
the houses are very respectable, adorned with tastefully carved wood 
work ; but the place is a mere depédt, where in the cold season the 
Almorah merchants, who chiefly own the houses, resort to traffic with 
the Bhoteeahs, who meet them for this purpose. This, rather than 
any particular msalubrity, seems the cause of the town being desert- 
ed at other seasons; it has no other resources. True, we Europeans 
found the temperature disagreeably warm, but the site did not seen 
malarious, and there was little fever amongst the few inhabitants. The 


1847.] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 233 


cases however were more numerous on our return, and it is certain the 
mountaineers look on a residence here with dread. 

At the junction of the two rivers are a couple of stone temples of 
Mahadeo, where Bruhma also is adored sub invocatione Bagesur, San- 
scrit Vageeswur, the Lord of Speech, and gives his name to the town. 
There is an inscribed slab at one of these temples, in a character not 
seemingly very ancient ; the import I understand is given in one of the 
Journals of the Society. ‘The brahmuns have a legend that the Sur- 
joo could not find its way through the mountains till the present chan- 
nel, a devious one enough, was opened by a Rishi; ever since which 
time bathing here is justly considered nearly as efficacious in removing 
sin as the pilgrimage to Budreenarain itself.* ‘ Bagesur’’ was per- 
haps in the first instance indebted for this title to the Tigers which 
abound in the valley; the brahmuns give both etymologies; these 
brutes (the tigers), roam up as high as Sooring, but from numerous en- 
quiries I am induced to believe that Bishop Heber was misinformed 
when he was told that they habitually frequent the snows. They are ex- 
tremely destructive in the district of Gungolee, along the Surjoo, S. E. 
of this, where during the present autumn and winter, 25 persons are 
said to have been destroyed ; this with an equal number of victims in the 
Bhumouree Pass, leading from the plains to Almorah, forms a serious 
item in the Kumaoon bills of mortality, and goes to prove that the 
Mosaic penalty of blood for blood is no longer in force ; indeed a cele- 
brated writer observes that “the lions, the tigers, and the house of 
Judah’’ scarce ever observed this covenant. The mountaineers are 
firmly persuaded that the worst tigers are men, who transform themselves 
into this shape by means of the black art, the better to indulge their 
malice, envy, and love of a flesh diet. The superstition reminds one 
of the lycanthropy of the old Greeks, and the Louf-garon of the French 
in modern days. 


* It is an extraordiuary instance of an attempted fusion of the creeds of Brahma 
and Muhammed, that the brahmuns of Bagesur in relating this legend, identified 
Muhadeo with ‘‘ Baba Adam,”’ and his wife Parvutee with ‘‘ Mawa Hhuwa,”’ or 
Mother Eve. Thry were probably indebted for this curious association to the cir- 
cumstance of ‘‘Adim’’ denoting ‘‘ first’? in Sanscrit, so that ‘‘ Baba Adam”? is 
‘* First Father.’”’ Had they selected Brahma, who as Viraj, divided himself into 
tale and female fur the production of mankind, tle parallel would have been still 
closer. 


234 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcn, 


We were told that up near Sooring a tiger was killed within these 
few years by a pack of the wild dogs, here called Bhonsla; but even 
our informant seemed to doubt the truth of the story. Of the bold- 
ness of these dogs, however, we had no doubt ; they are considered to 
be Bhugwan’s* hounds, and no Shikaree ever thinks of shooting them. 

Mr. Lushington, the Commissioner of Kumaoon, has a bungalow 
on the bank of the Surjoo opposite Bagesur; a little above this, the 
mountains on that side recede in a deep bay, leaving a spacious tract 
of level ground, on which the fair is held in January, at which period 
the whole of the Bhoteeah pergunnahs are deserted by their inhabitants, 
who descend with their flocks to the central portion of the province for 
warmth and pasture. These people in mien, make, and features, bear 
a striking resemblance to the Chinese. It is a curious feature in the 
agricultural economy of Kumaoon that during the same season, almost 
the entire population of the mountains between Almorah and the 
plains, descend to the Tarai, where they have cleared very extensive 
tracts, which are carefully cultivated with wheat, barley, mustard, &c. 
irrigated with no mean skill and industry by cuts from the various 
torrents which there debouche on the plains; while the forests swarm 
with their cows and buffaloes, which supply them with vast quantities 
of ghee, the sale of which greatly overbalances the occasional loss of 
their cattle by wild beasts. The presence of these herds in the forest 
may be said, to form a sort of safety-valve to the botanist or other 
explorer of its solitudes, the tigers seldom molesting man when he can 
obtain beef. The appearance of the young leaves on the Seesoo in 
April, is the signal for the mountaineers to ascend to their natural 
homes, where they arrive just in time to cut a second rubbee crop, sown 
in November; the only instance within my knowledge of the same 
farmer enjoying the advantage of two harvests in one season. I may 


* If the mere English reader should ask ‘‘ who is Bhugwan,’’ he will not be 
more in the dark than was one of the Secretaries to a certain Board in 1824. Car- 
riage and supplies were required for the troops in Arrakan, and a native dignitary 
in Bengal was required to say how much would be forthcoming from his district. 
‘‘ As much as it pleases Bhugwan’’ was the reply. ‘‘ Who is Bhugwan,’’ writes 
the Secretary. ‘‘ You will be pleased to inform Bhugwan, that if he withholds 


the requisite aid, he will incur the censure of Government, and assuredly be 
put down.”’ 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 235 


remark here that the Gooya or Gweeya of Mr. Traill’s Report, which 
he calls the Sweet Potato, is in fact the edible Arum or Colocasia. 
September 13th.—To Kupkot, 14} or 15 miles. The river above, 
Bagesur bisects the open tract of ground before alluded to; and then 
till within two or three miles of Kupkot, winds its impetuous way 
through a gigantic ravine rather than a valley, the entire floor being 
frequently occupied by its bed, now reduced to half the width it has 
below. This narrow channel is exceedingly deep, and in some places 
the waters flow more quietly for a space, in black pools, the whole not 
a little resembling the Findhorn in Morayshire. Over one of these, 
three or four miles from Bagesur, a single spar is thrown for a bridge, 
from which the passenger, at a depth of 30 or 40 feet below him, may 
see the water swarming with large Muhaseer.* The river flows in a 
channel of live rock, from which the mountains rise precipitously ; 
and in one place the road has to be carried for a hundred yards or 
more, along the face of the cliff; in general however, the rise is that 
of the river, only interrupted by the many feeders from the mountains 
to the left; on which occasions, for some unknown reason, the Puha- 
rees always make a dip, involving a troublesome ascent on the other 
side. At three miles, we crossed one large affluent, and at about seven 
a second, the Kundilgurh nudee, a furious torrent, which a few days 
since carried away its bridge; this was only replaced yesterday, which 
compelled a reluctant halt of one day at Bagesur, where Messrs. Hort 
and Powys, H. M. 61st Regiment, overtook us in the afternoon, from 
Almorah. We found the glen of the Surjoo here almost without 
habitation—wholly given up to jungle, luxuriant grass, deer, and 
tigers, the latter much dreaded. On the opposite bank, a little above 
the Spar Bridge, the river receives a large tributary, the Balee Gunga, 
and, two or three miles short of Kupkot, ceasing to rage through the 
narrow gorge which contracts it below, pursues its course along some 
open, but strong and uncultivated dells, covered with dwarf Zizyphus,t 


* The presence of a large fish, apparently of the Shark kind, is well attested, in 
the Surjoo, from Bagesur downwards; reported to grow 6 feet long, to be devoid of 
scales, and to have teeth like those of a dog. 

+ The famous shrine of Budureenath derives its name from this shrub, the 
Buduree (now Ber) or Jujube, Vishnoo being there invoked, like an apothecary, as 
the ‘“‘ Lord of Jujubes.’”’ All the synonymes, Budureesail, Budureebun, ‘‘ the 


236 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, 


to these soon succeeds the beautiful glen of Kupkot, splendidly culti- 
vated with rice, mundooa, Xe. in the centre of which we halted at noon, 
in a grove of tall Silung trees—but had not time to pitch our tents, 
or put the camp kettle in trim for breakfast, when the exceedingly 
sultry forenoon was succeeded by a heavy storm of wind and rain, 
which poured down for two hours, and made us excessively uncomfort- 
able, the ground being already swampy from the rice fields close by.— 
When the clouds cleared off, we found ourselves in a most romantic 
little valley, the Bingen of the Surjoo, from one half to two miles long, 
and about half as wide, from 4,000 to 4,500 feet above the sea, enclosed 
by a belt of gently swelling and diversified mountains, covered with a 
beautiful vegetation, the Cheer Pine feathering the summits. The village 
is on its western edge, close under the sloping mountains, about 150 
feet above the river and half a mile from it; several smaller ham- 
lets are scattered over the plain, each with its groves of trees, among 
which the plantain is conspicuous, producing large and excellent fruit. 
The more solid supplies are also abundant; and the people, the most 
civil and obliging in the hulls, instructed by the example of Chintamun, 
the old Putwaree, a more perfect gentleman than whom it would not 
be easy to find. The climate he represents greatly better than at 
Bagesur. A bold peak called Chirput, raises its head on the north side 
of the valley, on this bank of the Surjoo, and to the right of this, 
up the glen of that river, there is a near view of several snowy peaks 
the most prominent among them being the so-called Nunda Kot, east 
of Pindree. The Surjoo, now falling, was rather muddy. On our 
return though unfordable, its waters were clear as crystal, blue as 
sapphire, and sparkling in long reaches under a brilliant sun it 
seemed the most beautiful as it is one of the most sacred of Himalayan 


rivers. 


rock, forest of Ber,’’ point to the same fact: but as no Zizyphus could exist in that 
climate (they scarce reach Almorah), the spiny tree, Hippophae salicifolia, may be 
intended: or the name has been altered from Bhudr ; ‘‘ Happiness, prosperity, 
Mt. Merco.’’ I once suggested these difficulties, with my own solutions, to a 
brahmun who had visited the spot. He honestly avowed, that so far from Ber 
trees growing there, there were, as far as he saw, no trees or bushes of any kind ; 
but with an orthodoxy worthy of a better cause, he insisted that the genuine Ber 
must be there, since the Poorans said so, to doubt which would be Nastikee 
(Atheism). The deceivers have merged into the deceived ! 


¥847.] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 237 


The rock between Bagesur and Kupkot is almost exclusively lime- 
stone, here as elsewhere, forming the most bold and varied scenery : 
and bearing a most exuberant forest, festooned with imnumerable 
climbers. A gradual change may be perceived in the nature of the 
plants, and as we approached Kupkot, the Origanum and white thorn, 
Crategus crenulata, “Geengaroo,”’ indicated a less tropical climate. 
Lower down the dwarf date tree springs from every cliff. The tejpat, 
Cinnamomum albiflorum, called kirkiria, abounds in the shady glens. 
The Didymocarpus macrophylla, Loxotis obliqua, &c. cover the drip- 
ping rocks; a flesh-colored Argyreia, and the Cucumis Hardwickii 
«air-aloo,” climb over the bushes, with Tricosanthes palmata, “« Indra- 
yun,” and its brilliant-red, but fetid fruit. Coix lacryma, ‘ Loochoo- 
sha,” “ Job’s Tears,” grows by every stream, and in several places I 
observed the Aiginetia indica. The pretty lilac Osbeckia angustifolia 
is very abundant amongst the grass, and Clerodendron serrata, ternifolia, 
and grata, amongst the thickets, as is the “‘ Poee,’ Boehmeria tenacis- 
sima. The splendid Abelmoschus pungens, grows in abundance on the 
damp shaded slopes; it is called “‘Hou’ or ‘‘ Kupusya ;” the fibres 
afford a good cordage. The more common trees are the Photinia and 
Quercus anuulata, Kydia calycina, ‘‘ Puta,’’ Ehretia serrata, ‘‘ Poonya,”’ 
Dalbergia Ougeinsis, “‘ Sanun,” Terminalia bellerica, «‘ Byhura,” Grislea 
tomentosa, ‘‘Dhaee,’’ Flemingia semi-alata, Wendlandia cinerea, 
Callicarpa macrophylla, ‘‘ Ghiwalee,” Saurauja Nepalensis, ‘‘ Gogunda,”’ 
Engelhardtia Colebrookiana, ‘“ Moua,”’ Bauhinia variegata, ‘‘ Kweiral,”’ 
and Bauhinia retusa, Roxb., “ Kandla,” this last beiag identical with 
B. emarginata of Royle. Lastly comes a most abundant shrub of the 
Euphorbiace, a species of Sapium apparently, called ‘ Phootkia”’ by 
the natives, who occasionally employ the root as a cathartic, but de- 
seribe its effect as dangerously violent. It grows from 4 to 10 feet 
high, with tender green foliage, which has, on being crushed, a dis- 
agreeably sour odour ; like all or most of the plants just mentioned, it 
accompanied us to our highest point in the valley of the Surjoo. At 
Kupkot I first (on our return) met the Silung tree in flower; the 
trees quite covered with the small light yellow blossoms of the most 
exquisite fragrance, which is diffused (with the least wind) several 
hundred yards, the mountaineers say a kros. It grows to be a large 
umbrageous tree, and appears to be the Olea grata of Wallich. In this 


2. K 


238 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcn, 


province it is commonly found near the temples and on the mountain 
passes, called Benaiks, where a few stones are piled and rags tied up 
in honor of the Deotahs. It is most likely the tree called Olea fra- 
grans in the Darjeeling Guide: no notice of it occurs in Dr. Royle’s 
illustrations. 

Kupkot is the first village in the pergunnah of Danpoor, which 
includes the remainder of our route; as comprising Nunda Devee, 
the loftiest mountain on the globe hitherto accurately measured ; it 
would probably now have occupied the niche in the Temple of Fame 
filled by Santa Fe de Bogota, Popayan, &c. had Humboldt carried into 
effect his plan of investigating the Natural History and structure of 
the Himalaya. That his attention was diverted to the Andes must ever 
form the subject of regret to the Anglo-Indian. 

September 14th.—To Sooring or Sring, 11 miles in 54 hours, includ- 
ing much delay in passing above and through a spot where a great 
landslip of white talcose calcareous slate, due to the late rains, had 
annihilated the road, and nearly obstructed any further advance. 
Except at this spot, the rock on this day’s route consisted chiefly of 
the usual stratified limestone, forming many abrupt brows and lofty 
walls, and sometimes contracting the Surjoo to a few yards in breadth. 
The river is now reduced to a mere torrent, and from Sooring appears, 
at a profound depth, a narrow streak of foam. Its source is on the 
south face of a huge spur from the eastern precipitous shoulder of 
**Nunda Kot;” this spur forks to south-west and south-east ; the 
south-west range separating the valley of the Surjoo from that of the 
Pindur. At this fork there is not a vestige of snow in September and 
October. 

Our path kept to the right bank of the river, with much more 
ascent and descent than heretofore. In one place a cliff is passed 
by scaffolding, with the Surjoo perpendicular beneath, altogether 
somewhat difficult for ponies (which are of little or no use beyond. 
Sooring to a good pedestrian), and rather trying to nerves which have 
not been case-hardened in Kanawar and the Bhoteeah pergunnahs. 
Four streams large enough to require bridges, occur in to-day’s march, 
besides an infinity of rivulets, often converting the road into a swamp, 
where the leeches were most numerous and voracious. I picked 16 off 
my feet at once, and found the bites not a little venomous ; it moreover 


1847.} Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 239 


requires all one’s resolution not to scratch them, as in that case they 
are apt to form bad sores. The only security against these pests con- 
sists in soaking the stockings in brine ; but where one wades for miles 
through “fresh-water formations” the salt is soon washed away. The 
idea prevails in the mountains that these leeches possess the power of. 
springing on their prey: this requires verification, but is not altogether 
improbable. It is only too certain that by getting into the nostrils of 
sheep, goats, ponies, &c. they do much mischief by keeping them lean 
and unhealthy. We also found the small round fly or gnat very trou- 
blesome here: they give no fair notice of their approach as does the 
mosquito, and inflict a very irritating bite, for which death is a poor 
revenge. 

About three miles above Kupkot, there is a good Sanga bridge of 
two planks, 66 feet long, across the Surjoo, leading to Moongsharee, 
Milum, and the Oonta Dhoora Pass. The river here receives a large 
affluent on each bank. At one and half miles from Sooring, the path 
quits it, and mounting 800 or 1000 feet, we found ourselves at our camp 
with, as at Kupkot, a number of convenient sheds for the servants and 
coolies,a most welcome piece of hospitality confined, I think, to Kumaoon, 
but well worthy of introduction elsewhere. Our camp occupies an open 
spot above Sooring, and below a village called Lohagaon. As water 
boils at 200°, the elevation is somewhere near 6,700 feet above the sea. 
A colony of agricultural Bhoteeahs is established in the mountains, 
which rise steeply above this to the west; unlike the rest of their 
race, they never quit their villages, and had never even descended to 
Bagesur they told us. ‘The world forgetting, by the world forgot,” 
their talk is of bullocks and bears ; their only visiter is the tax-gatherer, 
who ferrets out the most determined hermit ; but in this respect the 
burden of the Kumaoonees is light. 

The scenery across the Surjoo is fine. The Lahour ka Dhoora, so 
named from a village visible to the north-east rather higher than Sooring, 
is bold, lofty, green, and wooded to the summit ; it extends from north 
to south, and beyond it is the valley of the Ramgunga. From two pe. m. 
we had smart showers for a couple of hours, with a drizzling cloudy 
afternoon, and more rain at night. It is wonderful how a little 
experience in Himalayan meteorology opens the understanding with 
regard to certain doctrines of Hindu Theology: e. g. Vishnu sleeps 


2 & 


240 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. {[Marcu, 


on the serpent Sesha durmg the rainy season; but the shastras 
which affirm the fact, omit the reason; this can be no other than 
that the earth is concealed from the skies by so dense a canopy 
of clouds that even the Lotus-eyed himself cannot pierce it; and 
hence, unable any longer to observe and preserve his very peculiar 
people of India, he even goes to sleep like Baal of old, letting every 
man go to the devil his own way. So also it would appear that their 
representations of Kylas, Bykunth, Uluka, and Soomeroo, glittering 
with gold and precious stones, are derived from the glorious tints 
which light up the Hemakoot, or “ Peaks of Gold,” when “the god 
of gladness sheds his parting ray” on its snows; aided perhaps by 
the reality that gold, roek-erystal, &c. are found there, especially near 
the sacred Lakes of Mansorowur, the neighbourhood of which is now 
ascertained by Mr. Strachey aetually to originate four great rivers, 
flowing to the eardinal pomts, viz. the Sanpoo, east; Sutluj, west ; 
Indus, north, and Gogra, (Kurnalee) south. i Lastly, the shastras 
affirm that the Ganges, &c. fall from heaven, and, just touching the 
erests of the Himalaya, flows along the earth: a representation not 
so utterly ridiculous to those who have seen the sourees of these rivers: 
chiefly fed by innumerable cascades, pouring down their sheets of 
water from the unseen plateaux above the glens. But enough of 
Hindoo Geography ! 

I made some inquiries here concerning the Ma-murree, a very deadly 
fever, which annually devastates whole villages in north-west Kumaoom 
and south-east Gurhwal, but though the reverse is believed at Almorah, 
could not hear that it had ever penetrated to any place in our line of 
route. It is chiefly prevalent in the hot season, and is accompanied 
by buboes under the ears and armpits, and on the groin, exactly as in 
the plague ; attacking for the most part the population clad in woollens,. 
and unquestionably originating in the extreme filthiness of their per- 
sons and villages. The disease is mentioned as a typhus fever in Mr. 
Traill’s report ; and has lately excited a more lively interest from its 
having last season approached within 14 kros.of Almorah, and ineluded: 
the cotton-weavers amongst its victims. Such is the consternation 
caused by its appearance, that the village is immediately deserted, and 
the patient left to shift for himself, which, considering the Sangrado 
simplicity of native prescriptions, such as violets m cholera, &e, may 


ad 


1847.| Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 241 


perchance deduct little from the otherwise small hope of recovery. The 
rank cultivation of hemp close to the doors of the houses, may very 
likely be connected with the origin of this pestilence, which should 
be investigated. As to goitre (gega) the people of Kumaoon appear less 
afflicted by it than those of Bissahur, and amongst the Bhoteeahs it 
appears to be unknown; a fact, if it be one, strongly corroborative of 
the opinion now received in Switzerland, that it has nothing to do with 
snow or other water, but is induced by the infected air of close valleys 
liable to abrupt transitions from heat to cold, a removal from which 
is often followed by cure. The people of Kumaoon employ a remedy, 
sold in the Almorah bazar, and called Gelur-ka-puta; on procuring 
a bit of this, and steeping it in warm water, it speedily developed into 
an unmistakeable fucus or sea weed; a fact on which Dr. Royle 
(Illustrations, p. 442,) expresses some doubt, and desires information. 

All that the druggists of Almorah know is that it comes from the 
west, and is taken internally. It may be assumed as an illustration of 
the small intercourse between England and Switzerland (at all events, 
its interior), in the age of Shakspeare, that the poet makes Gonzalo 
ask in the Tempest—“< When we were boys, who would believe that 
there were mountaineers, dewlapp’d like bulls, whose throats had 
hanging at them wallets of flesh ?”’ and then proceed to adduce as equally 
authentic, the ‘‘men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders ;’’ 
not yet discovered. 

The vegetation between Kupkot and the base of the Soormg Hill, 
though less luxuriant than yesterday’s route, exhibited most of the 
same forms, but as we rose, the Anemone vitifolia, Berberis lycium, 
** Kilmora,”’ Erythrina arborescens, (coral-bush,) ‘‘ Roongura,”’ and 
latterly the Parochetus communis and Quercus incana, become the 
substance of things hoped for in the way of a better climate. In Don’s 
Prodromus we find this last tree, the ‘‘ Banj,”’ (Ban of Simlah,) con- 
founded with the Reeanj, or Quercus lanuginosa, which is very dis- 
tinct, the latter, common on the Ghagur range, is unnoticed by Dr. 
Royle, as well as the Quercus annulata, common everywhere. Another 
plant common along the Surjoo to-day was the Aichmanthesa gossy- 
pina, abundant also on the hills between Bheemtal and Mulooa Tal, 
and very remarkable for the dense, thick, and pure white coat of 
tomentum which invests the branches and stem; it is called “ Jounde- 


~ 


242 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, 


99 


la.”’ Bees are said to be particularly fond of the honey afforded by the 
flowers, and to make it in large quantities when these are most plenti- 
ful. Onthe sunniest quartz rocks above Sooring, the Vitis macro- 
phylla? creeps along with its stems 5 or 6 feet long, and great cordate 
leaves from 18 to 20 inches each way. The people call it ‘ Umlee,”’ 
“ Assonjee,”’ and eat the fruit in November : it is not uncommon near 
Almorah, and Dr. Royle mentions it as climbing over trees at Mussoo- 
ree ; where, however, I never saw it ; nor if this be his macrophylla as 
it should be, has it at all a climbing habit. 

September 15th.—To Khatee, 123} miles, over the Dhakree (or 
Thakooree) Benaik. There is a bitter proverb that if you want to know 
the value of money, try to borrow some ; so to realize the height of these 
mountains, you must walk up one of them. Such an experience will 
also go far to reclaim one from the intellectual system of the most 
honest, able, and amiable of bishops since Synesius, Berkeley, who 
endeavours to reason us out of our senses, and persuade us that all 
which we see, hear, feel, touch, and taste has really no external exist- 
ence—all that we perceive being only ideal—and existing therefore 
only in the mind. The brain itself, as a sensible thing, exists only in 
the mind, and not the mind in the brain, as the materialists vainly 
allege: if full of such sublimated cobwebs, one commences such an ascent 
as to-day’s, he speedily begins to waver ; what, have all these rocks, 
forests, torrents, snows, this “‘ brave o’erhanging firmament’’—“ im- 
mense, beautiful, glorious beyond expression, and beyond thought ;” and 
still more, these wearied legs and craving stomach, no absolute being ? 
If so, it is quite surprising how these two latter ideas are burnished and 
stimulated by other ideas, such as an easy chair and a pleasant glass 
of ale. The higher we mount into the atmosphere, the lower we fall 
in the region of metaphysics; and on the summit of the mountain 
will generally in practice be found pure materialists, adopting with full 
conviction the moral enjoined in the apologue of Menenius Agrippa. 

We left Sooring at 6: 20, aud reached Tantee, a chalet, about 200 
feet below the Dhakree Benaik Pass, at 10: 10. Here we breakfasted. 
Water boils at about 1923°, giving the elevation about 10,700 feet, and 
the actual ascent 3000, not half what one has to climb on many other 
routes. The path rises at once from Sooring, and is in parts very steep 
and rocky, interspersed with occasional undulating meadows, The 


1847 J Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 243 


streams passed are inconsiderable, but a large one, rising between the 
pass, and the Chilt ka Dunda flows down the spacious wooded glen on 
the right hand towards the Surjoo, and in one spot forms a fine water- 
fall. The limestone rock ceases at Sooring, and is replaced by quartzose 
rocks, and finally by gneiss. The views across the Surjoo are very 
grand, and from the pass we enjoyed, not to-day, but on our return, ~ 
a near and magnificent, though contracted prospect of the snowy range : 
—extending from the Nunda Kot Peak on the east to Mauntolee ka 
Dhoora (Trisool) on the west. The eastern peak of the Trisool (No. 
XIII. of the map) faces the west in a great bluff (which our guides 
affirmed to be Nunda Devee), from which a long easy ridge, presenting 
to us an unbroken sheet of snow, slopes down to the east, connecting 
the Trisool with the Nunda Devee cluster. Strange to say that here, 
within 20 miles of the two great rocky peaks of this cluster, and 
elevated 10,800 feet, they are invisible, being concealed by the two 
beautiful pinnacles of pure snow, which from Almorah, &c. are seen 
to be merely the abrupt terminations of two immense spurs, the eastern- 
most of which, apparently with a large Loggan stone on its summit, 
is there known as Nunda-khat, ‘“‘ Devee’s bed.” From this point of 
view it rises into so fine and lofty a spire that our ignorant guides 
insisted it was the Darcoola (Panch-choola). In the hollow between 
the Trisool and Nunda groups rises the Soondur-Doongee or Redinga 
river, which flowing nearly south down a narrow and most profound 
glen, joins the Pindur a little above Wachum, affording probably the 
best and easiest route to the traveller desirous of penetrating to the 
core of the Nunda Devee mass. This stream, we were assured, has 
its source in a glacier like that at Pindree. East of Nunda Devee, 
ina deep colis “ Traill’s Pass” supposed by him to be 20,000 feet 
high, leading NoBopy to Milum; its eastern portal formed by the 
N. W. shoulder of ‘‘ Nunda Kot’’—which mountain closes the view 
in a colossal rectangular summit of pure snow, with the glen of the 
Pindur easily made out. The line of perpetual or at all events of 
unmelted snow, was very well defined along the whole extent of the 
range, certainly 2000 feet below the crest of Traill’s Pass. It is 
unfortunate for the hurried tourist that to the east of the Dhakree 
Benaik the range gradually rises, and three or four miles distant, in 
the Chilt ka Dunda, a bluff woody summit with a temple to Devee, 


244 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcn, 


attains full a thousand feet additional elevation, completely excluding 
the Panch-choola, &c. from the prospect. To reach this point which 
probably commands the loftiest peaks of Nunda Devee, would require 
a whole day, which we could not spare. The path is very practicable 
according to Puharee logic—‘ our goats traverse it,’ a consolation we 
received more than once. On the whole, I would say, let no one who 
has no other object, fash himself by coming so far to look at the snowy 
range. Partial masses are indisputably very grand, but far finer in 
my opinion is the main line, stretching from Jumnoo tree far down 
into Nepal, as we see it from Binsur and the loftier points of the 
Ghagur—always indeed, excepting one snowy range seen from another ; 
e. g. the Ruldung group from the Roopia Pass. 

We remained nearly two hours at Tantee and then continued our 
march leisurely towards Khathee, where we arrived at four p. Mm. and 
found Messrs. Ellis and Corbett encamped, employed in bear-shooting, 
after a very pluviose visit to the glacier above. ‘The Mohroo (Tilunga) 
and Kurshoo oaks are abundant on the eastern exposure of the Dhak- 
ree Benaik, but no pines. The descent on the western side is rapid, 
first through Kurshoo, which soon becomes blended with abundance of 
Pindrow (Ragha) fir, forming boundless forests on this fine range. 
Below these, we passed down, through luxuriant meadows, nearly to 
the Pindur, opposite to a large village, Wachum. Here a path strikes 
off to our left to Chirmg; and when passable, which it is not now, 
enables one to vary the return route to Almorah. This long, but in 
general not very steep descent, led us toa torrent, from which the 
road again ascends considerably towards Khathee, three miles or so 
further, the road lying amongst horse-chestnut, Maple, Sumach, 
mountain Bamboo, Banj, &c. Mohroo oak, Hornbeam, (Carpinus, 
“Geesh,’”’) Ash, &c. The last hour we walked under a heavy fall of 
rain, which continued drizzling more or less all night. 

Khathee has no permanent village, and at best only a few miserable 
sheds ; the only cultivation half a dozen fields of Chooa, (Amaranthus 
anardana ;) supplies must be obtained from Soopee, six kros distant, on 
the upper Surjoo, a flourishing village, under the Putwaree Mulkoo. 
This gentleman forwarded none till the afternoon of the 16th, which 
compelled us to rest here for a day. 

Khathee consists of some beautiful, open, and swelling lawns, closely 


1847.| Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 245 


hemmed in by exceedingly steep and lofty mountains, either covered 
with grass or enveloped in dark forest. On the N. W., about 300 feet 
below, the Pindur roars along its narrow gully, up which, whenever the 
clouds cleared a little, several high snowy and black rocky peaks of the 
great range appeared close at hand. Water boiled at 1953°, making 
the elevation about 9,000 feet; but as the thermometer gave the same 
result at Diwalee, 10 miles up the valley, and certainly 500 feet higher, 
8,500 feet is perhaps the true height of Khathee. The place is a per- 
fect bear-garden ; we had not been an hour in camp, before one appeared 
on the opposite bank of the river, feeding quietly on the locusts. 
Messrs. Ellis and Corbett have seen half a dozen daily, and on the 
afternoon of the 16th bagged one of them about half a mile from camp. 
The mountaineers hold them in great dread and are unanimous in 
asserting that they not only devour sheep and goats, but even their 
own species when found dead. They are very fond of the mountain 
Ash, or Rowan fruit. 

The species found here is the common black bear, called indifferent- 
ly Bhaloo and Reech, terms which Mr. Ogilvy (in Royle’s Ilustrations) 
is inclined to think mark two kinds. 

The argus and other pheasants are also common in the woods. 

The vegetation on our route this day, and about Khathee, is wholly 
different from that which we have just parted from in the valley of the 
Surjoo. About 500 feet above Sooring, the Hemiphragma heterophyl- 
la began to show itself, scarcely as long as its own name; its godfather 
was fond of such, and Don observes justly of another of his appellations 
“Nomen Spermadictyonis nimis auris terribile est servandum.”’ My 
friend Pilgrim was not so far out, botanically at least, when he compar- 
ed the Nynee Tal mountains to the Himalaya. On Cheena we find the 
Kurshoo oak, (Quercus Semicarpifolius,) and on the flat summit of 
the mountain, this very Hemiphragma; lower down the Pyrus baccata 
is common by streams, as it is about Khathee and in the Beans coun- 
try, everywhere under the same name, Bun-mehul, or wild pear. . As 
we advance to the S. E. in these mountains, the various plants, &c. 
seem not only to occur at lower elevations, but to approach the plains 
more and more, tillin Assam, some of them descend to the valley. Iu 
the mountains of Busehur, this Hemiphragma is scarce found under 
10,000 feet; here it is common at 8,000. Primula denticulata and 

2 L 


246 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, 


Quercus dilatata, both comparatively rare at Simlah, abound on the 
crest of the Nynee Tal range almost overhanging the plains at the foot 
of these hills, reaching to Kalaputhur. We find the Bengal Mudar, 
Calotropis gigantea, both the purple and white varieties, in profusion ; 
while, as Dr. Royle observes, the C. Hamiltonii only is found to the 
N. W. It is curious to mark the exact line of demarcation between 
different species: the Tree ferns reach to Burmdeo, where the Kalee 
leaves the hills; Ilex excelsa, unknown in Gurhwal and Sirmoor, is 
common in Kumaoon, where also I lately found many plants of the 
Chameerops Martiana on the Ghagur range, two or three miles S. E. 
of the Ramgurh bungalow, at about 5,500 feet elevation. The Thakil, 
a mountain 8,000 feet high, near Petorahgurh, takes its name from this 
palm. On the Ghagur, Binsur, &c. we also meet as a timber tree, a 
Michelia, perhaps the Kisopa of Nepal, and in the Dikkolee and Bhu- 
mouree Passes, Didymocarpus aromatica, called ‘“ Puthur-loung” 
“Rock-clove,” by the natives. But, probably owing toa milder ora 
damper climate, not only do plants grow lower down, but also much 
higher up, in Kumaoon than to the N. W. Thus the Rhododendron 
arboreum (Boorans), and Andromeda ovalifolia (Uyar), which in Bu- 
sehur we lose at about 8,500 feet, flourishes in the valleys of the Pindur 
and Goree fully 2,000 feet higher, reaching the lowest limit of Rhodo- 
dendron campanulatum, and flowering till June. On the west side of 
the Dhakree Benaik we first meet the Rhododendron barbatum, about 
the same size as the latter, or rather larger, and known by the same 
name ‘ Chimool ;” itis common above Diwalee. Here also occur Pyrus 
lanata, ‘‘ Gulion,”’ crenata, ‘‘ Moul, or Moulee,”’ and foliolosa, “ Sulia, or 
Hulia ;”’ the “ Moulee’’ is now ripe, and, though small, is the sweetest 
wild fruit I know of. At about 7,500 feet, on the eastern side of the 
mountain, a procumbent species of raspberry, perhaps the Rubus 
foliolosus of Don, made its appearance, and gradually became more 
abundant, covering every rock, bank, fallen tree, &c. and reaching up 
to within three or four miles of the Pindur glacier. It has large white 
flowers and excellent orange fruit, here called “‘ Gungoor ;” the Sinjung 
of Beans. Should this be identical with the ‘“ Ground Raspberry” of 
Darjeeling, it affords another instance of the approach of species to the 
plains as they extend S. E. along the Pindur above Khathee. Another 
Rubus, the rugosus of Don, grows to bea large and very handsome shrub, 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 247 


affording copious panicles of large and excellent blackberries. R. con- 
color is found above Diwalee. The Viburnum nervosum and cotinifo- 
lium, ‘‘ Ginnia’”’ and ‘‘ Gweea,’’ Millingtonia dillenifolia, ‘“‘Gwep,”’ Coto- 
neaster affinis, ‘‘ Rous or Reooush,”’ with black, not bright red fruit, which 
Loudon gives it in the Arboretum, a smaller shrub, with fruit of this 
color, is common, and is called ‘ Koocus,’ the C. acuminata? the 
Elceagnus arborea, ‘‘ Gheewaee ;” the Kadsura granditlora, “ Sillunghe- 
tee,’ Panax decomposita, Sabia campanulata, Rhus Teeturee, Fraxinus 
floribunda, ‘‘ Ungou,”’ the finest I have met, Acer villosum and cultratum, 
the Alder, Alnus obtusifolia, ‘‘ OQoteesh,’’ Cornus macrophylla, ‘ Ru- 
chia,” Betula cylindrostachya, ‘‘ Haour,” or “ Shaoul ;” and several more 
trees and shrubs, abound on the mountains of Khathee: with the plants 
Gaultheria nummularioides, ‘‘ Bhaloo-bor,’’ Anemone discolor, ‘ Kuk- 
reea,” Parnassia nubicola, Strobilanthes Wallichii, Euphrasia officinalis, 
Geranium Wallichianum, Veronica chameedrys or Teucrium, Halenia el- 
liptica, Pedicularis megalantha, Sibbaldia procumbens, the beautiful club 
moss, Lycopodium subulatum, “Toola-mooka,” 6 to 10 feet long, 
Roscoea spicata, Hedychium spicatum, Spiranthes ameena, &c. &e. 

The Poeonia Emodi abounds in the woods and glades here and higher 
up, and has as often two carpels as one; the natives call it “ Bhooniya 
madeen,”’ (‘‘ Yet-ghas” of the Bhoteeahs,) to distinguish it from the 
“Bhooniya nur,” Lilium giganteum, common in the forests along the 
Pindur ; these being considered the male and female of one species ; a 
very humble approximation to the Linnzean system! Among the bushes 
opposite to Wachum there is abundance of a twining campanulate plant 
called “ Gol-ghunna,’’* with large greenish yellow and purplish blos- 
soms, which, as well as the capsules, are eaten by the inhabitants ; it is 
a species of Wahlenbergia or Codonopsis. 

September 17th.—After rain all night, and fresh snow on the moun- 
tains above us, we left Khathee at 10} a. m. and reached Diwalee, about 
10 miles distant, in four and quarter hours. A drizzling rain fell nearly 
the whole way, rendered doubly disagreeable by the dripping of the thick 
forest, and especially the luxuriant and most abundant Nigala bamboo, 


* All these words are spelt according to Dr. Gilchrist’s system nearly, which 
seems best adapted to the English reader; one must protest, however, against its 
being introduced into names intended for Latin, where wu for a, and wo for au are 
horribly barbarous, 


7% 2 


248 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Maren, 


(Arundimaria faleata,) which, from 20 to 30 feet high, overhangs the 
path in the most graceful but to-day unwelcome clumps ; it reaches up 
within a few miles of the glacier, and is also common on the western 
face of the Dhakree Benaik ; it.is very generally in seed, now ripe and 
ripening. The mountaineers assert that this only takes place every 
twelve years (a suspicious period), and that then the plant dies. They 
are certainly so far borne out in this that all the fruit-bearing specimens 
do seem fading away, and that for several years past I have in vain 
tried to procure the seed. The Nigala is of mfinite use to them for 
mats, baskets, &c. some of which are very neatly and strongly made. 
Our route lay first on the left, then for a short distance on the right, 
and finally returned to the left bank of the Pindur, keeping nearly its 
level, with the exception of a few short but steep ascents and descents ; 
the two bridges good. The scenery is of the sublimest desecription— 
the valley somewhat of the character of the upper Roopin, except that 
it is much more narrow, the mountains rising like walls to a vast height 
on each side, broken into great buttresses, and universally invested 
with the densest forest. Three or four beautiful cascades poured down 
their boiling water from the woody heights, their volume doubly aug- 
mented by the late and present rain, but one can scarce appreciate the 
beauty of these things when wet and hungry, and all around with 
faces expressive of despair. The last of these falls, nearly in front of 
Diwalee, pours down amongst the ledges of slate rock from a maidan 
or table-land, which must reach up close to Nunda Devee, and is a 
favorite beat of the Shikarees. Thar, (wild goat,) moonal, argus, phea- 
sant, &c. being in great numbers. Diwalee, perhaps named from the 
wall-like cliffs of the Pindur just above, stands in the angle where that 
river receives on its left bank the Kushmee or Kuphinee river, a 
stream as large and turbulent as itself, rismg im the south-east recesses 
of Nunda Kot mountain. Their waters are of a dirty milk colour, and 
the bed of the combined stream is obstructed by some great boulders, 
against which the waters dash at the pas de charge. We found a 
good spot for our tents in the angle between the river; above this are 
several successive terraces, all well adapted for the same purpose, shaded 
by yew and sycamore trees, but the forest soon terminates upwards in 
the great bluff snowy spur which separates the rivers. The left or south 
bank of the Kuphinee is formed by the “ Kotela’ mountain, the 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 249 


summit of which, far above the forest region, commands the Pindur 
from this to its source, and communicates by a goat-path with the 
Dhakree Benaik. . 

We were accompanied here from Khathee by Ram Singh, the accre- 
dited guide to the glacier ; an athletic mountaineer of Soopee, with the 
limbs of Hercules and the head of Socrates, but scarcely his honesty : 
this last quality having been perhaps sullied by a three years’ abode at 
Almorah ; we found him however, with some disposition to make the 
best of them, very useful in our subsequent difficulties, and ultimately 
parted well pleased with each other. 

The trees, &c. on the route to-day include all those near Khathee, 
except the Banjoak ; to these may be added the Elm, Ulmus erosa? 
« Chumburmaya,” of great dimensions ; Juglans regia, “‘ Akor,” Cerasus 
cornuta, “ Jamuna,” Spireea Lindleyana, Leycesteria formosa, ‘‘ Kul- 
nulia,” Hippophae salicifolia, ‘‘ Dhoor-chook,” the ‘ Turwa-chook”’ 
of the Bhoteeahs, in abundance all along the banks of the river from 
Dewalee to Khathee. Ampelopsis Himalayana, “ Chehpara,” the climb- 
ing and the arborescent Hydrangea, the latter called “‘ Bhoo-chutta’” and 
** Bhoojhetta,”’ the hazel, ““ Bhoteeah-budam,”’ and “ Kapasee,” Corylus 
lacera, Piptanthus Nepalensis, ‘‘Shulgurree,” on which the Thar is 
said to feed in preference: Ribes glaciale and acuminata, black and 
red currants, ‘‘ Kokulia ;” Berberis Wallichii, and the only fir, Picea 
Pindrow. Picea Webbiana is pretty common above Diwalee ; both 
known as “ Ragha;’’ but not a vestige of Pinus excelsa (which how- 
ever, Mr. H. Strachy found common in Beans) nor of Abcis Smithiana, 
which from Captain Raper’s account, is not to be met on this side of 
Joseemuth. There is a thick undergrowth with the above, of Strobilan- 
thes, Balsams, Rubus, Cucumis Himalensis, Cuscuta verrucosa, Poly- 
gonum runcinatum, molle, and others. Oxyria elatior, Tricholepis 
nigricans (Edgeworth), Senecio nigricans, alata, canescens, and chry- 
santhemifolia ; Aster ferrugineus (Edgeworth), a shrub which also occurs 
in Kunawur, Aster alpina, Inula Royleana (Aster inuloides of Don), 
Jussilago, very abundant on rubble, &c. Doubtless these form but a 
moiety of the vegetable riches of this region, which I could only partially 
examine from under the auspices of an umbrella. 

On arrival at Diwalee we seized the opportunity of a partial cessation 
of the rain to pitch our tents; but it soon recommenced, and continued 


250 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. {Marcu, 


to fall from this time for no less than 75 hours without a break! This 
deluge came from the east, and prevailed over all Kumaoon, and no 
doubt much farther ; it made us prisoners in our narrow tent till 5 p. Mm. 
on the 20th, when the clouds cleared away before a west wind. During 
this period, the smallest rivulets became unfordable, and the Pindur and 
Kuphinee were swollen into the most turbulent, turbid and ungovern- 
able torrents. Up near its source I afterwards observed that the for- 
mer had risen from 15 to 20 feet, and lower down where the bed is 
more contracted, and had received countless accessions, it was probably 
double this ; accordingly at 2 p. M. on the 20th we were not surprised 
by a shout from our people that the Kuphinee bridge was swept away ; 
and ina few hours, our worst fears were confirmed that both bridges 
over the Pindur had shared the same fate, after standing uninjured for 
the last 4 or 5 years. This Ram Singh was pleased to call “ burra tum- 
asha,” but it was death to some of us, and would have placed us in a 
most serious dilemma as to provisions, had not a flock of sheep and 
goats, returning from the summer pastures, been fortunately arrested 
in the same spot as ourselves, utterly cut off from any escape to the 
south by two savage rivers, and with no means of advance to the north 
except over the hopeless pass to Milum, barely practicable in the best 
weather. It was an unlucky emergency for the flock, as during our 
imprisonment in this slough of despair, we and our followers ate six, 
and the bears seven of them. The destruction of the bridges isolated 
our party in three distinct groups: one in the peninsula, a second on 
the left bank of the Kuphinee, while the third, driven thence on the 
night of the 18th by the waters invading their oodiyar or cave, had 
crossed to the right bank of the Pindur, and taken up their residence 
in a cave between the two bridges. These, when the bridges went, 
were intercepted from all aid; those across the Kuphinee were sup- 
ported by “ fids” of mutton and goat flesh, which we flung over; but 
without salt or flour; this food disagreed much with all our people, 
and when supplies reached us, it was curious to observe how every one 
eagerly demanded salt. On the 21st, the eight men across the Pindur, 
contrived to clamber down the right bank, till ata spot about two miles 
short of Khathee, they found a place where its force was somewhat 
diminished by the current being divided into three streams: these, 
four of them determined to cross, and had actually got over two, but . 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 2m 


the third and last separated them, and three of the unfortunates were 
instantly carried off and drowned ; the fourth, a very strong swimmer, 
reached the bank, but was so bruised and chilled, the water being at 
42°, that he could not lay hold of the rocks, and was rapidly drifting 
after his luckless companions, when Messrs. Hort and Powys, ignorant 
of the fate of the bridges, came to the spot at this critical moment, on 
their way to Khathee, and dragged him out. Mr. Hort might have 
addressed him in the words of Pythagoras, O Genus attonitum—gelide 
formidine mortis, Quid Stygias, quid tenebras, quid nomina vana timetis ; 
Materiem vatis, falsique pericula mundi? but he did much better: he 
clothed him, and restored the circulation by brandy, and had him carried 
back to Khathee. For having his life saved by this unlawful medicine, 
the poor man soon become an outcast, and it required all my persua- 
sion, and not a few menaces, to induce his accusers to make the 
amende, on our return to Khathee ; this was only accomplished by the 
chief of them publicly drinking water from his hands, which was not 
done without much hesitation and many a grimace. 

September 21st was a glorious day, and was passed in various 
devices to throw a plank over the Kuphinee, to expediate Ram 
Singh to Khathee, to which, once over this torrent he said there was 
a track passable for goats and Danpoorees, but all our inventions and 
exertions failed for want of a felling axe and some thirty yards of 
strong rope, without which no one should intrude into these regions ; 
during the course of the next day, however, we received a communi- 
cation from our friends below, with some supplies ; and what was better 
a detachment of the bold Soopee men appeared on the other bank of 
the Kuphinee, and with some assistance on our side, soon laid a tree 
or two over that stream, which by noon on the 23rd were so secured 
and planked as to be passable to ws ; and our coolies being so starved 
and paralyzed as to be utterly useless, we sent them all back to Khathee. 
By the 24th the upper Pindur bridge was partially restored, but as 
there appeared no probability of the lower one being completed for 
some days, I determined to make a push for the glacier. 

We had smart rain from 2 till 6 ep. m. on the 23rd. The Pindur 
river, about 60 feet below us, was invisible from our tent during our 
“close arrest ;” not so the Kuphinee, which, though actually as far 
down, was right before us, and bounding down its inclined bed at such 


252 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, 


an angle as to threaten us with apparent destruction. So great 
was their combined roaring that all conversation was kept up by 
shouting, and with the party over the water by gesticulations only. 
At night, one could not help fancying one’s self on board a colossal 
steamer, with the thunder of the machinery and the mcessant plash of 
the paddles deafening one ; but there all is guided by skill and design : 
here the wild war of the elements seemed to terminate in destruction 
merely. They afforded a fine study for the action and resistless force 
of large bodies of water in motion down steep planes. Everywhere the 
lateral torrents had heaped up on each of their banks enormous bunds 
of mud, gravel, and huge rocks. When we passed, the waters of course 
had greatly subsided, and perhaps in their utmost force could never 
move such blocks; these must be owing to the landslips and great 
debacles of mud, in which the specific gravity of the stones is reduced 
almost to nothing. When subsequent rains have washed away the 
mud, there remain those immense couleés of rocks so prevalent along 
the mountain slopes as we approach the Himalaya. 

September 24th.—With Ram Singh as guide, one of my own follow- 
ers who wished to see the glacier, two Danpoor coolies, tea apparatus, 
and a column of ready-made chupatees, I started at 10: 20 a. m. for 
Dooglee, and reached at 1 p. mM. distance about five miles. The rise 
is gradual but continuous, and except near Diwalee, though the road 
was much cut up by the innumerable torrents and rivulets still rush- 
ing across it, I did not experience much difficulty ; there, one or two 
formidable landslips had fallen, which compelled us to rise and get 
round them—not very pleasant work, when all was still tottering. The 
“* still-vexed”’ Pindur raves close on the left hand during the route, 
and at about two miles from Diwalee becomes most savage, leaping 
down its rocky bed and among the birch-covered boulders in a series 
of the most Cambrian rapids and cataracts. It flows from 150 to 200 
feet below Dooglee, whence, and indeed from the glacier, its course to- 
wards Diwalee, is nearly straight, and due south. At about one mile 
from the latter place, there is, across the Pindur, a very fine waterfall : 
and higher up, on the same side, where the crags fall precipitously to 
the river, three or four more, all equally beautiful, fed by the snows, 
and trembling over the bleak bare rock above the line of vegetation in 
copious sheets of spray. On the left bank the cliffs and shivered pin- 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. Zoe 


nacles are more remote, and rise from a tract of undulating ground 
strewed with great rocks and covered with forest and brushwood. At 
two miles from Diwalee passed a hut and grazing ground, called Toon 
Paehurree, a little to the east of which a superb cascade falls from 
the heights in three distinct leaps. One advantage of the late rain and 
snow is that these falls are now in perfection. 

Approaching Dooglee the glen becomes very narrow, and the wild 
erags and bluffs above the forest across the river, now mantled in an 
unbroken sheet of snow, are but a few hundred yards distant! The 
accommodation provided here by nature for the wayfarer consists of a 
most enormous mass of mica-slate, a little above the road to the east : 
its western face projects gradually so much as to afford a tolerable shelter 
in the worst weather, as I had soon an opportunity of testing; for the 
heavy clouds drifting up the valley turned to rain at 3 Pp. M., which 
continued for an hour and a half; but though it was bitterly cold, the 
Oodiyar remained waterproof. Several similar rocks are grouped here 
and there in the vicinity, on which the spreading Juniper grows freely : 
the site also bemg just at the highest verge of the forest, must be 
about 11,500 feet above the sea. The wild goat is said to be very 
numerous hereabouts: and I noticed several flocks of the ‘ Snow 
Pigeon ;” higher up, amongst the cliffs at Pimduree, the Chough is 
commen. ‘The vegetation towards Diwalee comprises the trees before 
specified, with Silver Fir (Picea Webbiana and Pindrow) ; Birch (Betula 
Bhojpatra), Rhododendron arboreum and barbatum, Maples, Jamuna 
Cherry, with coppice of Viburnum nervosum and cotinifolium, Rosa 
Webbiana and Sericea, “‘Sephula” of the Bhotiahs, Berberis brachys- 
tachys (Edgeworth,) Jasminum revolutum, Syringa Emodi (“ Gheea,’’) 
Lonicera obovata and Webbiana, several sallows, the red and the white 
fruited mountain-ash, Pyrus foliolosa, ‘‘ Sullia,” “‘ Hullia,”’ (the letters 
s and h are interchangeable here, as in Latin compared with Greek ;) 
and extensive thickets of Rhododendron campanulatum ; while the pas- 
tures and streams abound with alpine plants, such as Spireea Kamt- 
ehatkika, Cynoglossum uncinatum, ‘“ koora,” aplotaxis aurita, Carduns 
heteromallus (Don), ‘‘Sum-kuniou,” Swertia perfoliata, << Simuria,”’ 
Cyananthus lobata, Impatiens moschata and Gigantea (Edgeworth,) 
Rhodiola imbricata (ditto,) Saxifraga parnassieefolia, Caltha Himalen- 
sis, Elshottzia polystachya and Strobilifera, Podophyllum Emodi, Sal- 


2m 


254 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. (Marca, 


via Moorcroftiana? Delphium vestitum. At Dooglee, the Potentills 
atrosanguinea, ‘‘ Bhooi-kaphul’’ commences, and is common towards the 
glacier, and near the latter only, oecurs Aconitum heterophyllum ; 
“Utees ;”’ both plants being-common-on Muhasoo at Simlah, at about 
8500 feet. Are these anomalies of the retreat of the alpine plants and 
the advance of the temperate ones, in these vallies, to be explained by 
the fact of their thorough exposure to the sun, from their nearly exact 
north and south direction? Amongst the rocks above Dooglee I 
found a shrub which the people called, from its bright red berries, 
** Dhoor-bank,”’ mountain arum : the Triosteum Himalayanum, I believe ; 
and if so, the most north-west locality in which it has yet been found. 

Either from the hardness of my bed and “dampers,” or the wild 
sublimity of the scenery, and perpetual war of the cascades, “deep 
calling unto deep, at the noise of the waterfalls,”’ finding sleep impos- 
sible, I passed a good portion of the night in conversation with Ram- 
singh and his companions, and amongst other things endeavoured to 
eonvince them, but without much even apparent effect, of the propriety 
of eating beef; not all their deference and adulation could make them 
admit its innocence! and yet they are well skilled in the most ready 
flattery. When we first met Ramsingh, we asked him whether he had 
ever been to Budreenath, and his reply was—‘‘No! why should I? 
you are my Budreenath.” Enquiring now a little into his history and the 
affairs of his village, it soon became too evident that even in these 
sequestered glens—where one might expect to discover an Areadia—the 
very same bad passions are at work as im the nether world,— envy, hatred, 
malice, jealousy ; in short the complete “ Black Battalion” of human 
frailties and passions. If my informant spoke truth, Mulkoo, the Put- 
waree of Soopee, by the grossest oppression, had despoiled him of house,, 
lands, and flocks ; while, according to Mulkoo, Ramsingh, by engrossing 
the glacier as his peculiar property, robs Aim of his lawful quota of the 
rewards which accrue from the visiters. Truly of all ‘the fables of 
the ancients” that of the Golden age appears to be the most unnatural 
and incredible. ‘‘ Croyez-vous, dit Candide, que les hommes se soient 
tonjoars naturellement massacrés, comme ils font anjourd’hui; quils. 
aient tonjours été menteurs, fourbes, perfides, ingrats, brigands, foibles, 
volages, laches, envieux, gourmands, ivrognes, avares, ambitieux, 
sanguinaires, calomniateurs, débauchés, fanatiques, hypocrites, et sots ? 


1847.] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 255 


Croyez-vous, dit Martin, que les éperviers aient tonjours mangé des 
pigeons quand ils en ont trouvé? Oni, sans doute, dit Candide. Eh 
bien, dit Martin, si les éperviers out tonjours en le méme caractere, 
pourquoi voulez-vous que les hommes aient changé le leur?” My com- 
panions, however malicious, were intelligent enough, and listened eager- 
ly to my details of railways, steam-vessels, electric telegraphs, &c. the 
last a difficult matter to explain to them ; they were also very curious 
to know what the “‘Sahib-log’”’ did with the sacks and boxes of stones 
which they carry down to the plains with them! They must surely 
contain gold, silver, precious jewels, or very probably the Philosopher's 
stone, in the reality of which they implicitly believe, may be amongst. 
them! In the uses of plants they are more at home, but as to anything 
beyond tangible and present utility in the way of food or medicine, 
every man of them is another Jeremy Bentham. Ramsingh informed me 
that if the honey of the upper Himalaya be eaten fresh or unboiled, it 
produces continued intoxication, severe griping, &c. Can this be caused 
by the abundance of Rhododendrons, and the bees feeding on their 
flowers? The Ten Thousand in Pontus were apparently affected from 
this cause. 

September 25th.—Clear morning and the snows of Pindree in full 
view ahead, called two pukka kros, about four miles. Leaving Dooglee 
at 6 a. m. I reached the base of the glacier in two hours; the ascent 
very gradual, and for the most part over sloping lawns, bounded on 
the east by high crags, and covered with Geranium ,Wallichianum, 
Potentilla atrosanguinea and other species, Ligularia arnicoides, Morina 
longifolia, Primula glabra, Parochetus communis, Cyananthus, Saxifraga 
spinulosa, Polygonum Brunonis, and others, Sibbaldia procumbens, 
Ephedra Gerardiana, several species of Gentian and Pedicularis, &c. The 
only bushes beyond Dooglee are the Rhododendron campanulatum, Lo- 
nicera obovata, Willow, Birch, Rowan, all diminutive, and ceasing wholly 
about a mile short of the glacier, except the Juniper and the Cotoneaster 
microphylla, both of which flourish on its edges; the latter hardy little 
shrub seeming equally at home here as on the hottest banks at Al- 
morah. The west bank of the Pindur is precipitous for about two 
miles above Dooglee, where a Gopha or cave is pointed out, said in 
days of yore to have been tenanted by the Pandoo, Bheemsing, not, 
however, till after the manner of St. George and St. Patrick, he had 

2M 2 


256 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [ Marcu, 


expelled and slain certain dragons and serpents, the original eccupants.* 
Above this cave, the right bank also becomes undulating, and exhibits 
the trace of a road which formerly led to the glacier, till the bridge 
was carried away; the slopes there are covered with low thickets, 
probably of Rhododendron lepidotum, but the unfordable river for- 
bade all examination. In the north-west Himalaya, the passes, con- 
trary to the fact here, are all gained by the north-west banks of the 
streams ; here in general the eastern bank is most accessible. One 
circumstance remains constant, which is the comparatively level bed of 
the river below the glacier; from its source to the cave nearly, the 
Pindur flows along a wide channel, overspread with gravel and stones, 
the product doubtless of the glacier, which has no terminal moraine ; 
its waters are exceedingly turbid, and though diminished above by the 
dozens of cascades, which of all sizes, and at all distances, rush down 
from the snow, are quite impassable. The spot called Pinduree is rather 
an open, undulating piece of ground, covered with grass, docks, and the 
ubiquitous Shepherd’s Purse, in an amphitheatre of crags, with many 
snow-beds along their bases. Here I found the remnants of a hut, 
which supplied fuel, and at 10 a. m. started for the head of the glacier 
and the source of the Pindur (this last about 10 minutes’ walk distant, 
but visited last,) which took me exactly three hours to accomplish. 
From the breakfasting ground the ascent is rather steep, over rough, 
and oceasionalty pasture land, covered with Sibbaldia, Salix Lindleyana, 
alow shrubby astragalus, the yellow aromatic Tanacetum, the dwarf 
white Helichrysum, an Iris? a garlic-like allium, and two most abun- 
dant and beautifal blue Gentians. The glacier lay to the west, and be- 
tween us and it, rose a lofty moraine, along the hither or east base of 
which flows a considerable stream, the source of which is much more 
remote than that of the Pindur, which it jos one or two hundred 
yards below its exit from the ice. Having ascended perhaps a thou- 
sand feet, we struck off to the left, and crossing the moraine, which is 
here about 150 feet high, descended to the glacier, and with infinite 


* During the heavy snow which fell in Kumaoon in February 1807, from 40 to 
50 Kakur are reported to have taken refuge in a cave near Loba, when they were 
killed by the peasantry. Had the bad weather continued, and these deer been 
starved, we should probably have one illustration of the manner in which Bone 
Caverns have been stocked. 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 257 


difficulty, advanced a few hundred paces towards its head, where it com- 
mences in huge broken tiers of the purest snow. The glare from this 
was intolerable, and the warmth of the sun now began to tell on the 
snow; the consequences soon made themselves heard and seen in the 
avalanches which, one in about every three minutes, commenced falling 
from the lofty crest on our right—the northern shoulder of Peak No. 
XV. generally known as Minda Kot or Nunda Hosh. The ridge of this 
was capped by a wall of snow, apparently 40 or 50 feet thick, from 
which stupendous masses were constantly detached and fell with the 
noise of thunder, spreading out in their descent like a fan, and tumbling 
m great blocks to the base of the moraine. Though perfectly safe 
where we stood to gaze, my Almorah servant was terribly frightened by 
** Devee’s opera.”’. Having crossed the glacier we kept for a short dis- 
tance along its western side, as I hoped to reach the source of the 
Pindur that way ; and return to the camp by crossing it at its source : 
both objects Ramsingh assured me were now impracticable; and as 
heavy clouds began to collect to the south, any delay became danger- 
ous; and therefore returning to the glacier, we endeavoured to steer 
down its centre, so as to look down on the river from the southern 
escarpment ; but this was also impossible, from the tremendous fissures 
(the veritable Davy’s locker) which crossed our path. Nothing re- 
mained but to regain the moraine, which we only did by passing along 
some very awkward isthmuses between these fissures. The moraine 
is constituted of gravel, mud, and blocks of stone imbedded in ice; the 
stones much smaller thanI should have expected. It conducted us, 
latterly by a very steep descent, to where the river issues from a cave 
in the face of the glacier, about 20 feet high, by perhaps 90 wide ; the 
impending roof is riven into four or five successive thick ribs of ice, the 
lower members of which promise a speedy fall. I found the water ex- 
tremely cold and muddy, and, as my guide had declared, too deep and 
impetuous to be crossed. Mr. Hort found the water to boil at 1903°, 
which, allowing half a degree too high for the error of his thermometer, 
would make the elevation very nearly 12000 feet. 

It is most surprising that with such a beautiful and unquestionable 
example of a glacier within seven marches of Almorah, the existence of 
this phenomenon in the Himalaya should have been considered doubt- 
ful! Having within these five years visited the Mer de Glace and seve- 


258 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, ' 


ral of the glaciers of Switzerland, I can most confidently state that there 
is not in Europe a more genuine instance, and Mr. H. Strachey, after 
much more experience, in Gurhwal and Kumaoon, assures me that it is 
by no means a singular one. Captain A. Broome many years ago 
penetrated to the cave source of the Bhagiruthee, which he found to 
be formed of pure ice ; so that little doubt can remain of the enormous 
‘“‘snow-bed”’ at the head of that river being also a true glacier. Captain 
Weller, who traversed the glacier near Milum (J. A. S. No. 134, for 
1843) was struck by the fantastic castles, walls, &c. of its higher por- 
tion ; this appearance would denote the junction of a lateral glacier ; 
but m no part of of his journal does he appear to be aware that at 
Milum there was such a thing as a glacier ; at least he never employs 
the word. Certainly the recent heavy rains had thoroughly washed 
the Pinduree glacier, and its surface exhibited a sheet of the purest 
ice, except on and near the terminal escarpment, which being covered 
with rubble, resembles, at a short distance, a steep bank of mud; and 
such, I hear, is the appearance in May and June of the Milum glacier. 
But to make quite sure, I carried a hatchet, and frequently broke off 
fragments, which everywhere were perfect ice, the only difference per- 
ceptible, or that I can remember, between this and the Alpine ice, being 
a coarser granular structure here. It is intersected by the same fissures, 
has the same ribband texture, and from its origin in the snow to its 
termination above the cave, falls in a series of the most beautiful curves, 
which appeared to my unscientific, but unbiassed eye, a striking illus- 
tration of the truth of Professor Forbes’ Viscous Theory. That the mass 
is moving downwards seems confirmed by the form of the snow at its 
head, viz. a succession of terraces, with steep walls, just such as clay, 
&c. assumes on its support being removed. The Bhotiahs of Milum 
affirm that their glacier has receded from the village two or three 
miles to its present site, and Ramsingh assured me that the same is 
true, in aless degree, at Pinduree. The glacier may be about two 
miles long, and from 300 to 400 yards broad, and probably occupies the 
interval between the levels 12000 and 13000 feet above the sea; owing 
its existence to the vast quantities of snow precipitated from Nunda 
Devee and the other lofty mountains above, which, melted by the noon- 
day sun, is frozen at night. It must be observed too, that in spite of 
theory and observation elsewhere, the perpetual snow appears here to 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 259 


descend to the level of 13000 feet: for from the head of the ice to the 
crest of “ Traill’s Pass’—the col which may be considered as the root 
of the glacier,—there is an uninterrupted surface of snow, and that, 
from its low angle except for the lowest thousand feet, evidently in 
situ. In short no one in Kumaoon can doubt the existence of per- 
manent snow, when he contemplates daily the faces of Trisool, Nunda 
Devee, and others, exposed to the full blaze of the meridian sun, and 
yet preserving in many spots, and those by no means the highest, 
spacious fields of snow without a speck or rock. 

None of the culminating pinnacles of the Himalaya are visible from 
Pindree; though the great Peak, No. 15, 22,491 feet, is immediately 
above on the east—but its northern shoulder, a massive snowy moun- 
tain, forms a grand object to the north-east, and this, passing the 
depression forming Traill’s Pass, is continued im glorious domes and 
peaks to the left, where a beautiful pinnacle terminates the view, appa- 
rently the easternmost of the two lower peaks of Nunda-Devee. The 
adytum of the Goddess herself is utterly concealed. By many she is 
irreverently confounded with tae Butt of Siva; but H. H. Wilson 
gives us Nunda and Nundee as epithets of Durgd, the inaccessible 
goddess.” The largest temple at Almorah is dedicated to her, and 
though several hundred years old, is there very generally believed 
by the credulous mountaineers to have been built and endowed by 
Mr. Traill, the late Commissioner, in gratitude for his recovery from 
temporary blindness from the snow glare, when crossing the pass now 
named from him. An equally lying tradition purports that, like Helio- 
dorus, he was struck blind at Almorah for forcing his way mto her 
temple, and only restored on endowing it handsomely. These legends, 
credited against all evidence on the very spot and in the very age where 
and when they were invented, reduce the value of tradition, and even 
of contemporary testimony, unless assured of the witness’ judgment, 
considerably below par! Amongst some great rocks on the east of the 
moraine, I found numbers of the curious Saussurea obvallata, here called 
the “ Kunwul,” or Lotus of Nunda Devee ; near it grew the Dolomies, 
macrocephala, another sacred plant, bearing the strange name of ‘ Kala- 
Tugur,” or Black Tabernzemontana , and the common Rhubarb, Rheum 
Emodi, here called “Doloo.’’ The rocks in situ about the glacier 
are mica-slate and gneiss, but on the moraine, the fragments consist 


260 fotes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [Marcu, 


also of crystalline and slaty quartz, the latter often considerably colored 
with iron between the layers; horneblende rock is also common ; and 
masses of the same granite which forms the great range at least up to 
Gungootee. Though it exhibits quartz, felspar, and mica, the felspar 
is mm such excess to the other minerals, and large crystals of black 
schorl are so abundant, that Captain Herbert probably did not recognize 
it to be granite, and hence his denial that this rock is found in the 
snowy range.—It certainly differs much in appearance from the more 
authentic granite which we find north and south of the Great Chain, in 
Kunawar and Kumaoon. 

My investigations were cut short by the very threatening appearance 
of the weather, and to his great relief, I at last commanded Ramsingh 
to retreat. At one period, he had evidently lost his way, and become 
confused on the glacier, and on quitting it, he turned round, joined 
his hands, and made a low reverence towards Nunda Devee; on the 
intensitive principle invented by Puff in the critic of firing six morning 
guns instead of one, I own I was strongly tempted to imitate and even 
surpass my guide by making six vows in the same direction, but there 
was no time for formalities, and the goddess who is pacified for a million 
of years by the sacrifice of a man, is not to be bearded with impunity 
in her own den; so, without further ceremony, we started, and passing 
Dooglee, in one hour reached Diwalee, in an hour and a half more, under 
pelting showers the whole distance. Messrs. Hort and Powys had 
arrived from Khathee an hour before me. 

The existence of alternate diurnal currents of air to and from the 
Himalaya, the first of which I experienced to-day, resembles in its 
regularity, the land and sea breezes of many tropical coasts, and is a 
fact which all travellers in these mountains must have remarked, though 
none that I am aware of, has recorded or attempted to explain it.* 
All along the exterior ranges we find that during the warm season, at 
least, about 9 or 10 a. M. a strong gale sets in from the plains, well 
known at Mussooree as the “ Dhoon Breeze,” and equally prevalent and 
grateful at Nynee Tal, &c. from 2 to 3 Pp. m.; it reaches the snowy 
range, blowing violently up all the passes from the Sutlej to the Kalee ; 


* Mr. Batten informs me that the Rev. J. H. Pratt has written an essay on 


this subject in a literary Journal of Cambridge; which I have not had the advant- 
age of consulting. 


1847. | Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 261 


and so furious in Hoondes and upper Kunawar as to preclude the use 
of pitched roofs, and to render it necessary to secure the flat ones 
by heavy stones. On the other hand, along the base of the mountains 
at Hurdwar, Dikkolee (on the Kossillah), Bhumouree, and Burmdeo, 
we find, so far as my own experience goes, that from November till 
April, from perhaps 2 till 7 or 8 a. m. a perfect hurricane rushes down 
the great vallies from the mountains, and being greatly cooler than the 
surrounding air, and soon followed by an oppressive calm, is perhaps 
the cause of much of the insalubrity of the tarai; as the reverse gale 
probably originates much goitre in the mountains. The explanation 
which suggests itself is as follows : Sir J. Herschel states that at 10,600 
fect about the sea, one-third of the atmosphere is below us, and at 
18,009 feet, one half. For the sake of round numbers, let us assume the 
attenuated stratum of air resting! on the Himalaya and Tibet, to be 
deficient by about half the weight of the whole atmosphere; during 

the day time, owing to the heat reflected and radiated from this elevated 
plateau, and the rocks and snows of the Main Chain, (a source of 
heat wanting of course to the corresponding stratum over the plains,) 
this is further expanded or rarified, so that it becomes specifically 
lighter, and ascends. Hence, owing to the great pressure of the whole 
mass of the atmosphere incumbent on the plains, the air thence is forced 
to flow upwards, to fill the comparative vacuum, and the current is 
generated, which commencing at the outer range, reaches the higher 
one in the afternoon, laden with vapor, which is there condensed by 
the cold, and astonishes the traveller by those storms of rain and snow 
which succeed, and are indeed a necessary result of the serene morn- 
ing. It is for this reason that the guides are always so anxious to set 
out betimes, so as to cross the passes by noon. I[t may be objected 
that as the process of rarefaction commences at the summit of the 
mountains, and must be gradually communicated to each stratum beneath, 
where it comes in contact with the heated ground, the current should 
begin instead of ending at the higest elevations ; but it would appear 
probable that the movements of the air from this cause is trifling ; the 
main agency being the pressure of the atmosphere on the plains, which 
necessarily commences its operation with the outer ranges. During 
the might, the atmosphere, like Penelope, undoes what it did by day. 
From the absence of the sun, the mountain air is cooled and condensed, 


2 N 


262 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [MARCH, 


and, recovering its former bulk and weight, descends, to restore the 
equilibrium by forcing the aerial invader back to the plains, the process 
being no doubt greatly aided, or rather caused, by gravitation as well 
as by the expansion and consequent diminution aud negation of pres- 
sure which the plain atmosphere has itself experienced from the intense 
heat of the earth and sun’s rays by day, the former of which is dispersed 
into the air during the whole night, and till about sunrise, when the gale 
from the mountains attains its maximum of intensity. 

Both “up and down trains” must be much modified and complicated 
by the direction of the mountain ranges and great vallies ; these last 
determine of course their usual route, and by their narrowness and 
depth tend greatly to augment the force of the wind. At Bheemtal, 
12 miles from the plains, its effect is but too sensible; but at Ram- 
gurh, as much farther in, itis unknown; the Ghagur serving as a most 
efficient screen in this direction. The entire career is run out in about 
100 miles; this distance is so short, and the anomalies from the ir- 
regularity of the ridges so great, that the effect of the earth’s rotation 
may be unappreciable ; if not, the day breeze coming from the south, 
where the velocity of rotation is greater, ought.to blow from the south- 
west and the night one from north-east: and this is certainly true at 
Almorah of the first.* 


* The climate of Ludakh, 11,006 feet above the sea, as observed by Moorcroft, 
fully bears out the above theory. Frost and snow continue from the beginning of 
September till that of May. ‘‘ In May, the days become warm, although early in 
the morning the rivulets not unfrequently present a coat of ice, and this may be 
vbserved in soine spots even in June, whilst on the loftiest mountains, snow falls 
occasioually in every month of the year. During the summer months, the sun 
shines with great power, and, for a short part of the day, his rays are intensely hot. 
At Lé, on the 4th July, the Thermometer in the sun rose at noon to 134°, and on 
the march to Piti, it stood ten degrees higher. At night the temperature was 74 
degrees. Even in the depth of winter, the heat of the sun is very considerable for 
an hour or two, and the variation of temperature 1s consequently extreme. On the 
30th of January, the taermome er shewed a temperature of 83° at noon, when it 
was only 122° at night The great heat of the sun in summer compensaies for the 
short duration of the season, and brings the grain to rapid maturity. Barley that 
was sown in the neighbourhood of Lé on the 10th of May, was cut on the 12th of 
September ; and at Pituk, five miles from Lé and about 800 feet lower, in a shel- 
tered angle of the valley, the same grain is ready for the sickle in two months from 


the time of sowing. (Travels, I. 268) Much further eastward, Captain Weller 


1847.] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 263 


The trade and similar periodical winds are of no mean benefit to the 
navigator ; the use of their mountain counterparts is unknown, unless 
it be to scour the deep vallies of their malaria. One abuse of them was 
too evident ; the locusts were everywhere taking advantage of them to 
penetrate into the mountains, and were in considerable numbers, 
living, dying, and dead, at the very head of the Pinduree glacier. 
How strong must be the instinct of wandering and self-preservation in 
these scourges, when, in search of sustenance (which they would scarce 
tind im Tibet,) it thus leads them, as the moth im the case of light, to 
their own destruction amongst the ice and snows of the Himalaya! 
But so long as rational men are found to resort to Sierra Leone, &. on 
the same errand, and with the same fate, though from an opposite cause, 
we have not much room to boast of our smperior discretion. The natives 
of Kumaoon consider that the flights of locusts, which have in late 
years, done immense damage to their crops, are produced from the 
sea. I KNow them to be produced in Rajpootana; on our return to 
Almorah on the 2nd October, we found vast swarms of them settled on 
the fields and fresh ones coming from the south and south-east; for- 
tunately the harvest was too advanced to admit of much injury. 

September 26¢h.—Walked to Khathee in 3} hours, with soft showers 
at intervals; and heavy rain from 4 to 6 p.m.; at one of the bridges 
we met the Putwaree Mulkoo, or Mulkih Singh, a regular short, thiek- 
set, mountain savage, not unlike one of his own bears. 

September 27th.—To the Tantee chalet (now deserted) on the Dha- 
kree Benaik, which we walked in 3} hours. From half-past 12 till 6 


was told that in May and June ‘‘it is hot below Dhapa (Daba,) that sealing wax 


, 


melts if carried on the person during the day,’’ a significant hyperbole. Moor- 
croft suffered severely from fever in the same district, probably from these rapid 
extremes. 

During the rainy season of the Indian Himalaya, the prevalence of clouds and 
moisture, by equalizing the temperature, must in a considerable degree, neutralize 
these currents: but to solve the problem satisfactorily, careful and extended obser- 
yations are requisite, with the comments of an experienced meteorologist ; several 
necessary elements, evaporation, electricity, &c. probably playing no mean ré/e in 
the phenomena. 

In the Arctic regions, Dr. Richardson found the radiation of heat from the snow 
in spring to exceel greatly that from the soil in summer: and in the Himalaya, 
the ‘* Dhoon Breeze’’ is most regular and powerful from April till June. 

2N 2 


264 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. |Marcu, 


pb. M. we endured a heavy storm of rain, hail, and thunder, from the 
west, followed by a clear and very cold night; our tent, which with- 
stood the 75 hours rain at Diwalee, leaked in half a dozen places at 
once to-day, such was the deluge that fell. Our people fortunately had 
the huts to shelter them, for, notwithstanding every precaution, se- 
veral fell sick every day with fever, so that our march resembles the 
retreat from Walcheren. 

September 28th.—After enjoymg the view from the Pass, we des- 
cended to Sooring in 23 hours; slight rain in the evening. 

September 29th.—To Kupkot, in 43 hours, breakfasting at a hamlet 
about half way, called Dooloom. Some very large species of orchidece, 
probably Dendrobium, Phaius, Coelogyne, &c. grow on the rocks and 
trees in this stage. The road at the landslip not yet replaced ; but after 
the paths above, it was trifling; one’s feet seem gradually to acquire a ~ 
sixth sense from practice over dangerous ground ; a portion of the mind 
descending and taking up its temporary abode im the toes; as the bat 
is said to have a sensibility in its wings which enables it to avoid walls, 
&c. in the dark. To-day was fine till 4 p.m. when a strong cold wind 
blew down the valley accompanied with light showers for about an 
hour. ‘The rice-crop is now being cut here. 

September 30th.— Walked to Bagesurin 5} hours, breakfasting half- 
way atthe Mundilgurh Torrent, where we met Messrs. Norman and 
Weston on their way to Pinduree. The Puharees are quite aware of 
_ the value of a mid-way meal. A friend once asked one of them how far 
such and such a place was off; and the reply was—‘‘ Two kros if you 
have dined, three if you have not.” 

The Surjoo has fallen six feet smce we left Bagesur; the temperature 
of the town is considerably lower, but the people look sickly and sal- 
low from fever. No rain to-day, for the first time since we started, 21 
days since. 

October 1st.—To Sutralee in 43 hours, of which 2} were expended 
in reaching the summit of the Ladder Hill, exclusive of a full hour’s 
delay in crossing the “infamous” Gaomutee, now just fordable, mounted 
on a ferryman’s back, who was obliged to have a second man to steady 
him. That such an obstacle on the main line of commerce between 
Kumaoon and Tibet should remain without a bridge, is accounted for 
by the circumstance that little communication takes place in the rainy 


1847. | Notes of an Kzcursion to the Pindree Glacier. 265 


season ; and that during the rest, the stream is only ankle-deep ; but 
when the iron-mines and foundries of the province are once in opera- 
tion under the management of the new company, let us hope the travel- 
ler will be expedited on his way to Pinduree or Milum by one of the 
Suspension Bridges, the glory of Kumaoon above all the rest of the 
Himalaya taken together.* . 

We breakfasted at the Dhurmsala, under a very elegant arbor of 
Jessamine, but clouds again disappointed us of the desired view of the 
snowy range. Noticed the Vitex negundo in various places to-day ; 
indeed it is common in Kumaoon, as in all the outer hills, and is here 
ealled Shiwalee. An intelligent brahman of Almorah assures me that 
THis 1s the Sephalica of Indian poetry, and brought me the Amurkosh 
to prove his point, where it certainly was explained by ‘ Soovuha”— 
““ Nirgeedee”’ and Neelika; with niwar as the Hindee. For Nigoondee, 
H. H. Wilson gives us “ Vitex negundo,” and ‘‘ another plant, Neel- 
sephalica,’ but does not say what this is. ‘ Neelika” though denoting 
“blue,” he follows Sir W. Jones in explaining by Nyctanthes arbor 
tristis, though no blue Nyctanthes was ever heard of. Sir W. Jones 
was assured by his Bengali pundits that this tree was their Sephalica, 
though he quotes the Amurkosh as stating ‘‘ WH eEwn the sephalica has 
white flowers,” &c. which the Nyctanthes always has. It grows wild 
abundantly in Kumaoon, but Roxburgh could never find it so circum- 
stanced in Bengal; the original name is therefore more likely to be 
preserved in the mountains, where so far as the brahmans are concerned, 
Parjat is the only one extant, and this also Sir William Jones was 
aware of in respect to other parts of India. He also gives Nibaree as 
the vulgar (Bengal) term for the Nyctanthes; but in Dr. Voigt’s 
catalogue, this is annexed to Cicca disticha. The Puharee “ Shiwalee” 
is an easy and regular corruption of Sephalica, and Sir William des- 
cribes it in terms which might well attract the praises of the poets— 
“a most elegant appearance, with rich racemes or panicles (of odorifer- 
ous, beautifully blue flowers, Voigt,) lightly dispersed on the summit 
of its branches.”’ “‘ Soovuha’”’ ‘ bearing well,’ may allude to these, or to 
the aroma of the bruised leaves ; but the experimentum erucis of try- 

* These bridges are constructed of iron manufactured in Calcutta, and probably 


smelted in England. The abutments of one over the river Khyrna near Nynee 


Tal are absolutely built on an iron-mine ! 


266 Account of the process employed for obtaining [Marca, 


ing whether the ‘bees sleep in the flowers’’—for that is the significa- 
tion of Sephalica, remains yet to be made. 

October 2nd.—To Almorah in 5% hours: total hours from the gla- 
cier 32; road distance 83 miles, (in a direct line 52,) giving an average 
rate of walking, 2 miles and 5 furlongs. 

In the preceding notes, the popular name of each tree and plant, 
where any certain one exists, 1s commonly added, with the view of 
enabling those who visit the same or similar localities, to acquaint 
themselves, if so disposed, with the more prominent characteristics of 
this department. ‘The naturalist,” says Sir William Jones, ‘‘ who should 
wish to procure an Arabian or Indian Plant, and without asking for it 
by its learned or vulgar name, should hunt for it in the woods by its 
botanical character, would resemble a geographer who, desiring to find 
his way in a foreign city or province, should never enquire by name, 
for a street or town, but wait with his tables and instruments, for a 
proper occasion to determine its longitude and latitude.” 


DAA LBD ALLA mnoew™- 


Account of the process employed for obtaining Gold from the Sand of 
the River Beyass ; with a short account of the Gold Mines of Siberia ; 
by Capt. J. Assott, Boundary Commissioner, Se. 


It has long been known that the sand of the river Beyass yields 
Gold Dust to the sifter. A description of the process and of the 
value of the produce may possibly be interesting ; and if it should 
lead to search for the original veins of this precious metal, the result 
may be valuable as well as curious. 

From the mountain district of Teera to Meerthul, where the Chukki 
joins the Beyass, and the course of both is nearly southward, gold dust 
is found in the sands of the latter pretty equally distributed. The 
boulders and pebbles in the river channel from Ray to Meerthul (the 
greater portion of this interval) are generally siliceous, quartz, por- 
phyry, sandstone, gneiss, with occasional granite—and oftener pebbles 
of jasper, These appear to be debris of the Brisna cliffs and hills 
bordering the river, with exception perhaps of the gneiss, which I 
suspect is carried down from the older formations. My impression is 


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Sand Fane 
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myoLgs £2 uars/20ONS JBYM LOpUn Luwnoys 1S00M Ij) JY SUID JUMOY? TYLOR: yg ybnosy 3 UlI70aS 7WI 2407 


ae 


1847.] Gold from the Sand of the River Beyass. 267 


that the gold is originally deposited in the gneiss and quartz rock, and 
separated with the sand itself by attrition of the boulders together. 
This would account for the extreme minuteness of its particles, which are 
literally dust. All my enquiries however failed to ascertain the discovery 
at any time of a particle of gold adhering to any fragment of rock. 

At Teera the course of the Beyass lies between mountains. At 
Ray it emerges into the plain, having hills on its north-eastern brink. 
Here it divides into many streams scattered over a cultivated channel 
more than a mile in breadth. The gold finders are a few poor natives 
who have no more lucrative subsistence. The labour is severe and the 
profits poorly remunerate them. 

Process. 

The spot selected for the washing was close to the main stream of 
the Beyass. The larger boulders and fragments being thrown aside, 
the coarse sand to the depth of a foot is abraded and carried in 
baskets to a trough upon the brink of the stream. ‘This trough, 
which is a hollowed block of timber about four feet in length by a toot 
in depth, and a foot and four inches in breadth, is made to slope toward 
its outlet in front, a cleft an inch wide, extending from top to bottom. 
A seive of bamboo staves is laid over the posterior portion, and the sand 
is laid upon the seive; water is then poured upon the heap, which the 
pourer stirs about with his hand, until all the sand has been carried 
through the seive into the trough, when the remaining coarse parti- 
cles are rejected. This is repeated until the trough is nearly filled. 
Water is then poured into the sand, which is agitated by the hand. 
The water carries off the lighter particles. The man who stirs the 
sand, rakes it back incessantly with his left hand, whilst he pours 
upon it water with his right hand. In about half an hour there 
remains only 15 or 2tbs. of black sand, very fine and sparkling. This 
appears to be either the hornblende, from granite and gneiss rocks, or 
corundum. It is used by cutlers in conjunction with lac or rosin or 
pitch to form the wheel with which they sharpen tools and weapons. 

This black sand, which is very heavy, is found upon examination to 
contain a few smail particles of gold dust. It is carefully scraped out 
of the trough in its wet state, placed upon a plank one foot square 
and slightly hollowed. Mercury of the size of a large drop of rain is 
poured into it, and the whole is carefully kneaded with the hands for 


268 Account of the process employed for obtaining [Marcu, 


twenty minutes. More water is then added, until the mass is fluid. 
It is shaken with a circular motion, which causes the water and lighter 
particles to fly off at the circumference. This process is continued, 
with the continual addition of fresh water until only a small heap 
remains in the centre, in which the gold and quicksilver appear together 
as a small globule. This is washed, taken out and put upon a piece 
of ignited cowdung. ‘The mercury flies off and leaves the gold yellow. 
In order however that the utmost weight be given to the mass, it 1s 
taken from the fire before the whole of the mercury is evolved. 

The quantity of gold obtained from a trough half filled with sand, 
and containing therefore about 24 cubic feet, is about 14 rutties. This 
employs nine men for about 45 minutes. It is obvious to me that much 
gold is lost in this imperfect and expensive process. For the outlet 
of the trough extends to the very bottom, without any ledge to arrest 
the heavier particles. 

Any enterprising native who would work these sands upon a larger 
scale with machinery turned by the river current, might find it pay 
handsomely, but only by personal supervision. 

I have the pleasure to forward a specimen of the gold dust collected 
in my presence, and also of the sand previous to washing, and the black 
sand in which the gold is ultimately found. This still contains its 
gold dust. 

It strikes me that as an accompaniment to the foregoing deserip- 
tion of the process of washing for gold in the Beyass, the parti- 
culars of my visit to the richest gold mines in the world, (those 
namely, of Siberia) may be acceptable. And as, in Siberia, a particular 
succession of strata is considered presumptive evidence of the presence 
of gold, the same phenomena may possibly prove of similar significance 
in the regions lately added to our empire. 

During my mission to Russia, I was detained at Oxenburgh awaiting 
an answer to my despatches. General Perroffoki, the enlightened 
governor of the province, anxious to amuse me, afforded me the means 
of visiting the celebrated fabric of Mines at Zlataoost and the gold 
and platinum mines of that neighbourhood. 

As far as Ufa, a considerable town of a military station, the road 
lay over an undulating steppe, and at that season of the year the jour- 


bi 

4 
a 
. 
Le 
iF 


1847. | Gold from the Sand of the River Beyass. 269 


ney is delightful, the horses cantering lightly over the springing turf, 
and the temperature by day and by night being equally pleasant. But 
after quitting Ufa, the undules swelled into hills, generally of easy 
ascent, partly forest and partly cultivation, and over these we had reached 
the summit of the ridge of the Oorahl mountains, without any of the 
appearances of rock, ravine or precipice, which so usually token the 
proximity of any considerable mountains. From this height we de- 
scended a few hundred feet to the valley, and pretty little artificial lake 
of Zlataoost, celebrated for its fabric of arms and for the gold mines 
in its neighbourhood: but much better remembered by myself, for the 
courtesy, the kind hospitalities, the engaging manners, and traits of 
patriotic feeling which distinguish its inhabitants. 

From Col. Anosoff, a practised geologist and a man of science and 
sagacity, I gathered the following particulars, which may form a useful 
introduction to my visit to the mines. 

The gold mines of the Oorahl mountains are very different from our 
ordimary notion of metallic mines of any kind. For they are not ex- 
cavations of the rocky strata of plain or mountain, but mere exfoliations 
of the superficial soil, varying in depth from one to four feet. Their gold 
is unmixed with any matrix, being almost pure gold in its metallic form. 
There is nothing in the appearance of the valleys yielding gold to distin- 
guish them from such as yield none : and the first discovery of the mines 
was purely accidental, grains of gold having been washed down by the 
torrents. But by a careful comparison of phenomena, a geologist 
may now seek them with increased certainty, for, in every case, the 
gold is found to occur under the following succession of strata, which 
presents a Geological section across the Oorahl range at Zlataoost.* 

The morning after my arrival I mounted the vehicle prepared for 
me by the attention of Col. Anosoff, and in company with his whole 
family proceeded to the gold mines. We passed through a forest of 
small firs and cedars feathering the high ground above the lake, and 
after coursing over some 8 or 10 miles of undulating steppe clothed 
with rich grass and beautiful wild flowers, entered a very extensive but 
shallow valley, bounded on all sides by scarcely perceptible acclivities 
of the same steppe. The abundance and beauty of the wild flowers 
enamelling the turf redeemed the monotonous character of the landscape. 


* See plate. 


no 
o 


270 Account of the progress employed for obtaining |Marcn, 


It was one of the poetical phases of the steppe, oftener spoken of 
than encountered, and probably never seen south of the Oorahl river. 
At some distance onward we came upon a party of diggers for gold. 
‘There was nothing in the spot they occupied to distinguish it from 
the steppe around. It was covered with turf and wild flowers spring- 
ing from a black vegetable soil. It was not even the bed of a water- 
course ; although such are very generally selected, owing to the gold 
being there brought to light by the action of torrents. The workmen 
dug away the superficial crust of black soil, working very carefully as 
they neared the bottom and leaving a layer about three inches thick 
untouched. When a considerable space had been thus prepared, they 
commenced excavating the soil to be washed for gold. This was done 
by digging through the thin layer of black soil not hitherto disturbed 
and tothe depth of about one foot into the substratum, which is a 
hard table of clay and sand with fragments of schists and serpentine. 
The gold appears generally to lie upon the surface of this, but is some- 
times found beneath. The whole of the earth now excavated is carried 
in barrows to the washing-house, where seives of different degrees of 
fineness are shaken by water-work under the current of the stream. 
From the residue the gold is carefully extracted. It is generally of 
such size as to need no aid from mercury. The machinery appeared 
to me simple and well adapted to the process. It was not possible for 
me to make notes: but my impression is that the profits amount to 
about 75 per cent. in these the good washings: and the small price of 
labour, and the richness of the masses exhibited, as that year’s collection, 
made me easily credit the account. These are the richest gold mines in 
the world, and appear to be inexhaustible, every year leading to the dis- 
covery of fresh riches, although they are supposed to have been worked 
from very ancient days; the name Zlataoost signifying mouth of gold. 
The phenomena of these golden debris (for mines they can scarcely 
be called) are peculiar and lead to speculation. The gold dust so often 
found in the sand of rivers, streams and torrents, is generally attributed 
to some rocky veins in the higher sands. Here, there is no appearance 
of such an origin. Previous to the growth and deposit of the present 
black vegetable soil, the gold seems to have lain strown like pebbles, 
over the surface of the hard clay and schist stratum: not particularly 
in the channels of torrents, but as if it had fallen in a general shower. 


1847. | Grold from the Sand of the River Beyass. 271 


The higher sands are very remote from the spot. The ascent to them 
is scarcly perceptible, and at the foot of those heights are valleys and 
ravines which would have caught and detained any debris washed 
down from their sides or summits. 

The gold itself is of almost virgin purity. A small quantity of 
silver alloys it. It lies in granules, precisely similar to those formed 
by pouring upon water molten lead ; and immediately suggests the idea 
of having been cast molten upon the hard stratum on which it is found. 
The strata however, hereabouts have no volcanic character, and it is 
evident that the gold has been cast in its present position, since the 
deposit of the clay on which it rests; its own great specific gravity 
otherwise giving it a lower rest. 

When the gold has been worked it is laid up in heaps, which are 
transmitted to St. Peterburgh. The average size of the grain is that 
of a barleycorn: but masses of the size of pistol and gun bullets are 
not uncommon, and much larger masses are occasionally found. The 
appearance of all will be familiar to any one who has thrown fused 
lead upon water. When the late Emperor Alexander visited these 
mines he turned up a spadeful of the earth by way of example. We 
had scarcely quitted the spot, when an immense mass of gold, larger 
than a man’s foot was found beneath the imperial footprint. The 
very genuineness of such a natural mass in such a position becomes 
doubtful. 

Several of these gold mines are the property of or farmed by indi- 
viduals who sometimes make immense fortunes upon the profits. 

Col. Anosoff spoke confidently of the uniform succession of the 
strata on which gold is found, and as gold occurs in many and distant 
portions of the Oorahl chain; this circumstance is very remarkable, 
there being no imaginable connection between the gold itself and any 
of the substrata. 

The supply does not seem to cease with the Oorahl mountains, for 
at the north-west foot of the Altai range it is gathered in consider- 
able quantities. There however it is found in quartz, which is pulverized 
for its extrication. If I recollect right a few of the masses of gold of 
these washings was found adhering to fragments of quartz. 

After examining these works we proceeded with fresh horses to Mias, 
where there are other gold mines. Platinum was here shown me in 

202 


272 Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. — |Mancu, 


the form of a black flattish grain, bearing the pure metal shghtly cor- 
roded. It occurs here, but more commonly at Ekaterinburgh. Not 
having witnessed the search for it, the particulars are less fresh in my 
recollection. I was told that it was found under much the same 
circumstances. Platinum coin is commonly current in Russia for 
about half the value of the same weight in gold, although it can be 
obtained cheaper. Of course the circulation is limited to the Russian 
Empire. But the extent of this is so great that not much inconveni- 


ence accrues. 


OPPO LOLOL LOLOL wor 


Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar, by Capt. M. Kirror, 
6th Regt. N. I. 


The perusal of notices on the Buddhist annals by Hodgeson and Tur- 
nour, and of the inscriptions so ably translated by Prinsep, as well as 
my own observation of the many curious things I have occasionally met 
with, particularly in the vicinity of Gyah, have afforded me much room 
for reflection and speculation. 

Although no benefit to science may be derived by search for, or dis- 
covery of, the ruins or sites of the 18 Viharas mentioned in the Pah 
Buddhistical annals of Ceylon, nor of the 83,000 Chaityas which the 
Burmese believe to have been built by Asoka, still our interest or curiosi- 
ty is excited in the search, and if successful in any degree, it must be 
admitted that a greater value becomes attached to these records than 
they might otherwise seem to deserve. 

Partial success increases our desire, and in following out one research, 
others suggest themselves, light is thrown on what formerly seemed 
darkness, truth on that which appeared but childish fable, and when 
such is the case, it must be accorded that history has gained a prize, 
hence it is that antiquarian research is not altogether an useless or 
idle one, it becomes interesting and instructive ; acting upon this reason- 
ing, I have taken advantage of my leisure after two years’ hard though 
ill-requited labour in an official sphere, to drown unpleasant reflections 
thereon by resuming a study I had been obliged entirely to sacrifice to 
the calls of duty, and great will be my gratification if the result of my 


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AIASSOXAFABSIINAFHATAY 
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on an ancient Badha 


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1847. | Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. 273 


travels prove interesting ; at any rate I feel that I am partly carrying 
out the wishes of my late amiable and learned patron, James Prinsep, 
who oft expressed a wish that I should ramble over the district of 
Behar and cater for him. To be thus able (even at this late period) to 
carry out the views of my benefactor, is in itself delightful, but I hope 
that I am at the same time partly meeting those of the Honorable 
the Court of Directors, and of the Royal as well as of the Parent 
Asiatic Society. I however labour under great disadvantages, viz. want 
of means and want of an establishment of good draftsmen and a good 
pundit. I have only one of the former and of the latter none. Accurate 
drawings occupy much time, anda single idol will require a whole day, 
a group will take more, for all those which are worth drawing have 
most elaborate ornamental details. A complete and interesting port- 
folio could be filled either at Gyah or Bodh Gyah; to copy these again 
fairly, takes an equal if not longer time, indeed I have in a few days 
sketched more than can be reduced to order in as many weeks. 

To enable me to do the subject of this paper justice, it would be 
requisite to visit the whole of the country included in ancient Behar 
or “ Vihara,” for the name has undoubtedly been derived from the 


numerous ‘ Viharas’’ or Monasteries of which the present town of 


Behar, was probably the principal, though Bodh Gyah was perhaps the 
most sacred of the whole on account of its being the site where Sakya’s 
miracles are supposed to have been performed; the term of doubt I 
apply to the miracles only, for, that such a lawgiver as Sakya existed, 
I see no reason to question, the accounts of his life and death when 
sifted of their fabulous interpolations ; are too circumstantial for us to 
take a different view, and of such the Ceylon books seems particularly 
free—in this respect the Budhist works are far better than the Brah- 
minical ; the best of these perhaps is the Mahabharut, which if likewise 
parted from its impurities, would prove a history of real and great 
events of however less remote date. 

In page 517, Vol. VI. of the Journal Asiatic Society, in Turnour’s 
examination of the Pali Budhistical annals, mention is made of a 
dispute about the repairs of the “eighteen great Viharas surround- 
ing Raja-griha.”” The question is, where were these said Munas- 
teries, which, from their requiring repairs, may be supposed to have 
existed for a long period, even before the advent of Sakya himself, 


274 Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. [Marcu, 


shortly after whose death this took place? This is what I shall try to 
show. 

Within a circle of 30 or 40 miles round Gyah, I have traced the 
following, of what I suppose to be the remains of Viharas, viz. Nagar- 
juni, Koorkihar, (Bodh Gyah,) Bukrour, (Gyah proper,) Murghat, Chil- 
lor, Booraha, and Gooncherit, Pawapuri, Burgaon or Koondilpoor, Behar, 
Raja-griha, Giryek, Patna, or as I find it called in an inscription, ‘* Pata- 
liputra,’’ Poonaha and Dharawut: here are seventeen, of these places 
I have visited eleven ; the great antiquity of five of them is unquestion- 
able ; of those named which I have not seen, there are five, also doubt- 
less ; therefore we may assume that we know of ten out of the eighteen 
of Sakya’s time. 

Behar, or more properly speaking ‘“ Magda,” is acknowledged ever 
to have been the chief seat of the Buddhist religion, and of its heretical 
offshoots ; the exact extent of this kingdom is unknown—and I fear 
must ever remain doubtful, though it would seem to have included (to 
the north) Benares, Allahabad and Ajudhia (or Oude) and to have ex- 
tended to Ganjam, (Kalinga Desa) to the south, and Arracan to the south- 
east, at least the scriptions, cave temples and the mention made in 
the Buddhist works would seem to warrant such a conclusion, though 
the former clearly point to the king of Magda having supreme power 
over all India from Caubul to Ceylon. Such must have been the case 
in Asoka’s time and in that of Chundra Gupta. The 83,000 temples 
supposed to have been built by the first named were scattered all over 
India, and raised or repaired by command at one and the same time, 
upon the occasion of his conversion to the Buddhist faith. Of these per- 
haps the Tope of Manikyala, the caves of Bamiyan and of western 
India formed part ; however I have here to treat of the “ Vihars around 
Raja-griha,”’ ten of which I have shown to have been traced with toler- 
able certainty. 

I have given the names of seventeen sites: I will now describe those 
[ have visited. 

First of all Bodh Gyah. The extensive mound of brick, mud and 
hewn stones bear evidence of there having been perhaps more than one 
establishment, and that a great Chaitya or tope existed, the masonry 
of which was of brick and stone, the latter from the same quarry as 
all the pillars, bearing inscriptions in the ancient Pali, and supposed to 


1847. | Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. 2735 


be the work of Asoka, though I think there is reason to assign even a 
much earlier date to them. One of these formerly stood at Bukrower, 
the site of another city, and of a Vihara directly opposite to Bodh 
Gyah, likewise on the banks of the Lellajun, on the neck of land above 
the junction of the Mahana or ‘‘ Mahanada,” between both rivers ; 
part of this pillar is set up in the town of Sahebgunge (Gyah) and two 
fragments remain at the original spot ; of a fourth fragment, containing 
the inscription, various stories are told, but suffice it to say it is missing. 

Proceeding further down the river, we come to Gyah proper ; that 
this was originally a place of Buddhist and Jain worship, I believe there 
is little room for doubt, and that the worship of the Linga or Siva at 
this and all the Viharas, was practised for ages in conjunction with that 
of Budha, I think is equally clear from the innumerable Linga stones of 
every shape and variety found scatteredabout. I could wish that I had 
time to draw the whole variety, from the simple round stone to the rich- 
ly sculptured four-headed kind called “the Chowmoorti,”’ and ‘‘ Chow- 
mookhi’ Mahadeva, though some would be wifit for our pages. 

Still following the river, which is now called the Phulgoo, and at a dis- 
tance of 15 miles, we reach Nagarjuni hills, the site perhaps of the 
chief Vihara or of several, for we read in Turnour that after the death 
of Sakya, the first great convocation was held before the Sutta 
punni (Sutgurba)? cave on the south of the hill, &c. which I think 
there is every reason to believe was the very spot now called Barabur 
as I have attempted to show in my notice on the caves. On the north- 
west end of these hills is Dharawut, and Chundowk tank, also the site 
of a Vihara. 

Crossing the river and proceeding some 12 or 14 miles to the south- 
east, and after passing the range of barren rocks which extend from 
near Gyah to Giryek and Raja-griha, we come to a vast mound of bricks 
and rubbish, called Koorkihar, undoubtedly the site ofa great monastery 
and large town, indicated by the potsherds and the many fine wells and 
tanks. Koorkihar is perhaps a corruption of “ Korika,’’ and Vihara 
the ancient name, is said to have been Koondilpoor, but this honor is 
claimed also for Burgaon, the site of another large city and monastery, 
Chaityas, &c. to the north of the hills, distant 10 or 12 miles. 

The outer enclosure appears to have been 180 paces square ; the wall 
(of bricks) was about three feet in thickness ; there must have been an 


276 Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. (Marcu, 


inner inclosure half the width and considerably less in length ; the court 
yard thus formed appears to have been filled for ages with Chaityas or 
Budha temples of every dimension, from 10 inches to perhaps 40 or 50 
feet, and to have been built one upon the other, the first being buried 
or terraced over to receive those of later date. There are great varieties 
both in form, size and materials, some of granite, others of basalt, pot- 
stone or chlorite, also of plain ground bricks. 

There have been several rows of large images (and I should think 
of temples, covering them) of the Gyani Budhas, also of female figures ; 
all have the creed ‘“‘ Yé Dhurma hétu,”’ &c. engraved on them ; some of 
the sculptures are very beautiful and perfect, and of colossal size ; the 
whole country is strewed with images and fragments : excavation and 
search inthis mound would enable us to fill our own and other museums, 
and no doubt lead to some rational conclusion as to the progress of Bud- 
dhism up to its annihilation, for whilst digging out a miniature Chaitya 
I found the plynth of one with an inscription (No. 3 of my late notice 
of Inscriptions) which proves it to belong to one of the Pal Rajahs of 
Bengal who were known to be heretics. Buchanan and other travellers 
have noticed these innumerable small temples or models (figs. ) heaped 
under every fig-tree throughout the district, the like also occur (though 
belonging to the Jains), at Agrahat in Cuttack, but for what purpose 
they were intended no one had ventured to conjecture ; chance however, 
at this place, has discovered the secret. The inscription abovenamed as 
well as other brief sentences I have found, show them to have been 
funeral monuments,our learned fellow-member Mr. Hodgeson of Nepaul 
has kindly communicated much valuable information to me, which has 
served to confirm my views ; he mentions that in the valley of Nepaul 
these numerous small Chaityas, surrounding a larger, is by no means 
uncommon. If again we look to Rangoon, we find the same to exist, but 
I shall advert more particularly to this subject in a separate paper and 
give some illustrations. 

Quitting Koorkihar to return towards Gyah, and after travelling three 
miles to the south-west, the hamlet of Poonaha is met with, situated 
between two rocky eminences, and having a large tank to the north ; to 
the south of the village is a handsome Budhist temple, the most perfect 
of any I have met with; indeed the only one save that of Bodh Gyah 
which is of comparatively modern date, it possessed the most. striking 


1847.] Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. 277 


picture of the style, viz. a solid round tower with a niche to each of the 
eardinal points, formerly ornamented with figures of four of the five 
Budhas, fragments of which are strewed about, and there are likewise 
many others and much brick rubbish, denoting the existence of some 
large building in former times; on the rock to the west is a fine shaft 
of granite, in the north face of which is an empty niche ; there appears 
to be no inscription. 

Taking Gyah again as a starting point and proceeding to the south- 


_ west four miles beyond Chirki, and on the right bank of the Morhur, 


we come to the site of a large city and citadel, &c. and no doubt of 
Budhist and Saiva monasteries, on the two hillocks or rocks by the 
river side, which are covered with bricks, this place is called Murhut. 
After crossing the river bed and directly opposite, is a high mound 
ealled Chillor, on which is a mud fort; this mound is the site of an 
ancient city of great extent ; a quarter of a mile to the south are several 
mounds of earth and bricks; two are very conspicuous; one seems to 
have been a Dagope, the other has lately been opened for the bricks 
and several Budhist idols of beautiful workmanship found ; one of Siva 


_ is of great beauty, large dimensions, and quite different from any other 


figures I have ever met with. I hope to give an illustration of this 
figure hereafter ; it took me many hours to draw. ‘There are other 
mounds which it would be well worth while to open. 

About two miles to the north is a small hill called ‘* Matka,’’ where 
there are the remains of a Chaitya; it was from this spot, Iam told, 
that the small image of Budha, I sent a drawing of last month, was 
brought. 

Proceeding due west for four miles, we come to a place called “ Boo- 
raha.” Here are several sites where there have been Chaityas, and a large 
Vihara, there is a natural curiosity which has no doubt been always 
a place of sanctity. There is a hollow spot beside a nullah where there 
are many powerful springs of apparently mineral waters, which come 
up vertically through the soil and discharge gas, the same as hot 


springs; the temperature of these is said to vary, much as well as the 


volume of water and gas discharged. 
Two miles or less to the west of this place is a small cluster of hills 
called Manda, around which pottery and bricks are strewed for a great 


_ distance; this is the site of another large town. There have been 


2 P 


278 Notes on the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. [Marca, 


Budha and Siva temples on the rocks, of which traces only are left ; 
under a tree are heaped fragments of idols of all ages, amongst them 
were two small figures of sows with seven sucking pigs on their hind 
legs ; one of these sculptures I have secured for the Museum. 

Leaving Manda and proceeding south-east towards Seerghatty for 
three miles, we reach a place called ‘“‘ Goonerria,” the site of a large 
town and of a Vihara, the name of which appears from inscriptions to 
have been formerly ‘‘ Sri, Gooncherita.’”? There are numerous small 
Budha and Siva idols collected around a very fine figure of Budha of 
large size, on the throne of which is the annexed inscription plate.* 
In the same plate I have given some shorter inscriptions from smaller 
idols: there has been a fine tank to the north of the town and several 
Linga temples near it. 

One of the inscriptions is written on the lotus leaves of the throne 
of a Budha; it seems to be what is termed a Muntra, and reads 
perhaps three ways. 

From this place we return to Seerghatty, which is six miles to the 
south-east, passing on our way alarge tank and mound called Kurmaine ; 
a mile further south of which are two other mounds ; one is very exten- 
sive and elevated, but there is neither name nor tradition to guide us 
to any conclusion. 

Such are the sites I have visited. I must here remark with reference 
to ancient sites, that it is much to be regretted that when the revenue 
surveys take place accurate notes should not be made of all the sites of 
ancient towns and villages, the high mounds of which are every where 
to be seen in India—this province in particular, where the most impor- 
tant events of early history have occurred. 

In the north-western provinces above Agra, and as far as Lahor, there 
are many remarkable spots, but of all of these some legend more or less - 
absurd, though instructive in a measure, exists. In the Jallunder 
Doaub might not this plan be adopted as a survey is bemg made ? 

Before I conclude this brief notice, I must not forget to mention 
Pawapuri, which I am told is the site of a very large city. The present 
village is inhabited chiefly by Surrawucs or Jains, who claim the place 
as a seat of that sect ; according to a clever Bengali pundit, Pawapuri 
was the capital of Magda in Chundra Goopta’s time, and it was here 


* We have been obliged to omit this inscription in the plate for want of space. 


1847. | Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah. 279 


he received Alexander’s ambassador Antiochus; this is strange, and if 
correct, we shall again be at fault as to Asoka and the pillar inscrip- 
tions. I beg to invite attention to this subject. 

I shall never feel satisfied till I shall have seen Pawapuri, Burgaon, 
Giryek, Raja-griha and Behar, and several other places which have beer 
pointed out to me. I hope the time is not far distant ; until then I must 
take leave of the Viharas. 


PL LLL LLLP WYO 


Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah.—By Lieut. 
W. S. SHERWILL. 


The southern portion of Zillah Arrah, or Shahabad, is occupied by 
an elevated plateau of table-land, forming the eastern extremity of 
the Kymore range of sandstone mountains. From whichever side it 1s 
viewed, it presents a series of high bluffs, or precipices, similar to those 
so often seen on sea coasts ; these precipices, varying from 300 to 1500 
feet in perpendicular height, are supported by bulging buttresses cover- 
ed with almost impenetrable bamboo forests. The summit of this 
extensive plateau is covered with forests of Ebony, Saloogunje, a few 
Saul, and a variety of other trees, and has several ranges of low hills 
traversing it in various directions ; many rugged and deep valleys indent 
the northern face, which is of a much less elevation than the southern 
face. These valleys, extending for ten or twelve miles into the body 
of the table-land, gradually contract in width from one mile to a few 
hundred yards, similar valleys branching off from them laterally. The 
ends of these valleys terminate abruptly in mural precipices, down which, 
during the rainy season, mountain streams are precipitated with a deaf- 
ening roar. These valleys present to the traveller views of exceeding 
beauty: in many spots where they happen to be only a few hundred 
yards across, the deep shade at mid-day caused by the dense foliage 
and perpendicular walls a thousand feet in height, is quite a phenome- 
non for India. The most extensive of these valleys, or as they are styled 
by the natives k’hohs, is that through which the Doorgoutee river 
flows ; a more beautiful spot it is difficult to imagine; at the spot where 
the Doorgoutee falls from the table-land, the valley named Kudhur-k’hoh, 
is only a few hundred feet in width, dark, deep and cold ; immediately 

2 P 2 


280 Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah. [Marcn, 


below the falls the valley is darkened by an immense grove of mange 
trees, which extends for two miles along the bosom of the valley. Pro- 
ceeding to the northward the valley deepens rapidly from 700 to 1,000 
feet, sometimes expanding to a mile in width, sometimes contracting to 
a few hundred yards; diverging from this valley are numerous smaller 
k’hohs, almost impenetrable to man, but all affording excellent shade and 
pasture to large herds of buffaloes, which help to supply the Mirzapoor 
and Benares markets with Ghee. After having traversed about eight 
miles of this valley the Soogeea-k’hoh strikes off west and extends into 
the mountains for about ten miles; in this valley are situated the extra- 
ordinary limestone caves, a surveyed map of which appears as a vig- 
nette on the accompanying map. 

Sandstone.—This mineral forms the grand mass of the table-land, 
and I am inclined to think overlies an equally extensive bed of moun- 
tain limestone. It is to this sandstone that the mountains owe their 
grand appearance, displaying as it does the most tremendous precipices ; 
it varies in color in almost every specimen; it is exceedingly hard, 
strikes fire with a steel readily, is ponderous and tough, fracture con- 
choidal ; that it is of a durable nature is proved by the buildings at 
Sasseram, Rhotas and Shergurh. The sandstone in some of the buildings 
in the two last named places cannot have been quarried and used for 
building less than 800 years ago and yet is still as perfect as the rock 
from whence quarried. It is universally quarried wherever a town or 
village requiring stone happens to be near the hills. The colors are 
principally white, red, pink, striped and grey, and is used for all sorts 
of building purposes, handmills, sugarmills, pestles, mortars, steps, 
door-posts and a variety of other domestic purposes: to it, the fortres- 
ses of Rhotas and Shergurh are beholden for all their palaces, and bat- 
tlements ; Sasseram for the greater part of its city, the tomb of Sher 
Shah is built of it, as also the bridge over the Kurrumnassa river at 
Musehee ; on the northern face of the table-land it is of a softer tex- 
ture ; here it is extensively quarried for a variety of purposes. 

The vast precipices exhibited in this sandstone admirably display the 
horizontal formation of the mass; one of the precipices in the fort of 
Rhotas I found by measurement to be 1,300 feet, a sheer mass of stone 
without a bush, or tree on its surface ; it is situated close to an over- 
hanging mass of building known as the Hujjam’s palace, a few minutes’ 


i ceil 


1847.| Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah. 251 


walk from the gateway leading up from Rajghat. The echo at this 
spot, which is a complete amphitheatre of precipices, is very distinct and 
grand, giving seven distinct responses to several syllables ; the report of 
a gun reverberates like thunder ; the sandstone at this spot is of a dark 
red, an overhanging rock at this spot enabling a person to look over and 
to fully contemplate this fearful abyss. At the foot of a small detach- 
ed hill at Sasseram a very curious apparently horizontal column, or 
formation in the sandstone appears, which has been described by me 
in the 163d No. of the Journal of the Asiatic, Society at pp. 495— 
497. 

Mountain Limestone.—Next in order, is the limestone, and from the 
fact of its appearing in so many places, though far apart, separated even 
for many miles and yet always appearing of the same structure, I am 
inclined to think that it penetrates in an unbroken stratum under the 
sandstone. Start, for instance, from the eastern face of the table-land, 
where the limestone forms an unbroken bed from the foot of the For- 
tress of Rhotas to the village of Dhowdand, a distance of 30 miles north, 
and proceeding in a north-westerly direction at the distance of thirteen 
miles we meet with the same limestone in the valley of Soogeea-k’hoh at 
the depth of a thousand feet below the summit of the table-land and in 
company with the limestone Gupta caves; nine miles further in the 
same direction, it again appears at Buranoon in two low detached hills, 
much lower than their sandstone neighbours ; four miles further north 
it again appears in a low hill at Nowhutta, then turning nine miles to 
the west, it again appears at Musehee; beyond that, I lost all trace of 
it, but I have little doubt that from the fragments that are washed out 
of the numerous k’hohs, that it will be shown to exist wherever the 
sandstone has been deeply penetrated. To the west of Rhotas limestone 
appears cropping out as two small hillocks situated in the forest under 
the lofty sandstone precipices bounding the southern face of the moun- 
tains. It also appears at the foot of the sandstone at the western 
entrance of the large valley named Doomur-khar, on the northern face 


of the hills about 12 miles south-west of the town of Sasseram. This 


limestone is extensively quarried wherever it appears, and from Tilo- 
thoo on the banks of the Sone, large quantities are burnt for lime and 
taken down the river in boats to Dinapore, Patna, Arrah, Chupra and 
to other large towns. 


282 Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah. |Marcn, 


Specimens of this stone were sent by me to Calcutta in December 
1844, hoping they would prove useful as Lithographic stones, but they 
were declared to be too siliceous and too thin for any practical pur- 
poses ; but I feel convinced, that any one who could command time 
and had the inclination, would be rewarded by finding some good and 
serviceable beds of this most useful article. 

In the valley named Soogeea-k’hoh, in a jungly and wild spot, are 
situated the Gupta limestone caves, which penetrate to a great distance 
into the mountain ; the hill Khyrwars insisted that the low passages 
which are met with after penetrating the hill for about 300 yards and 
through which it is almost impossible for a himan being to penetrate, 
communicate with the other side of the spur of the hill, which is about 
half a mile broad, (vide map) and upon going round to the eastern side 
I saw the opening, but masses of rock fallen from the, roof having 
blocked up the entrance, I was content with viewing it from the dis- 
tance of a few hundred yards across a deep ravine. The cave is about 
ten or twelve feet in height, eighteen or twenty feet in width, and has a 
few stalagmites and stalactites, worshipped by the Hindus at particular 
periods of the year. I penetrated these caves for about 500 feet. The 
strata of limestone in the caves are very narrow and flinty, much waved 
and contorted, and in some parts of the roof appear to have been forcibly 
torn asunder, or as if the sides of the cave had sunken into the earth, 
the roof splitting in the middle to allow of such an arrangement. 

The general appearance of this limestone is of a dark blue slate color, 
fracture conchoidal, strikes fire, difficult to break ; when burnt forms 
the best lime, is quite free from any animal exuvice, and impalpable in 
texture. In a few cases it is nearly black, also of a pale yellow or buff ; 
the latter appears to be in a state of decay and is not burnt for lime. 

Chalk.—Associated with the limestone, chalk is found in a great 
many spots; wherever known to exist it is extensively quarried and 
exported. By the natives it is known as Khari Muttee, but is very 
different from the English chalk. It is found in thin strata of a few 
inches thick, is unctuous to the touch ; has a shiny appearance, but soils 
the fingers ; a small detached hill at the foot of Rhotus is composed 
almost entirely of this mineral. 

Hornstone.—This mineral is found in several spots underlying the 
sandstone ; it is met with at a waterfall named Tootala Koond, on the 


Ld 


1847. ] Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah. 283 


eastern face of the table-land, four miles west of Tilothoo, also in the 
Sone river, eight miles west of the Koel river, where jutting into the 
river its causes rapids ; and again at Jadonathpoor, four miles from the 
Mirzapoor and Shahabad boundary. 

Iron Ore.—This is found in large quantities at and near to Soorkee 
or Sirkee, so named after the red appearance of the soil, which for miles 
round about is highly impregnated with the red oxide of Iron, and 
which is situated on the southern edge of the table-land. The ore lies 
scattered over a large surface of ground, extending for about four miles 
east and west, what may be under the surface remains to be seen. 
The principal manufacture of iron from this ore is at Sunda, a village 
two miles from the edge of the table-land. Specimen 115 is the ore 
pounded and broken ready for fusion ; 116 is the iron as produced after 
once smelting, in which state it sells for its weight in rice ; 117 is the 
ore three times smelted, and now sells for one and a half ana for a ku- 
cha seer, or three anas for a pukha seer. Iron ore appears scattered all 
over the table-land but in small and insignificant quantities generally. 
At a spot named Sulya, at the head of the Mukree-k’hoh valley, are im- 
mense heaps of iron slag, scattered here and there amongst the hills 
and in the jungle, and by the hill men said to be remnants of the exten- 
sive iron founderies in the days of the now almost extinct races of Khyr- 
wars and Cheeroos, a peculiar and now scattered race, but who profess 
once to have been a powerful people, having their own kings and princes 
ruling over them; in appearance these men are very like the Kols, 
Bheels and Gonds of central and western India ; in their customs, religion 
and roving habits they also resemble them, and living in the same range 
of mountains, the Vindhyan range, as their confréres, there is little 
doubt that they are one of the scattered remnants of the races who 
formerly inhabited the Gangetic plain long since driven from that fertile 
tract by a more civilized race. 

Indurated Reddle—Geru, (Hindustani.) 

Large beds of this mineral are situated on the summit of the table- 
land, the principal ones being at Mundpa and Chuthans ; great quan- 
tities are carried away by the Pussarees on bullocks and exported to 
Benares, Patna and other large cities; it is used in dyeing, as a pig- 
ment, and for a variety of other purposes. The beds extend for about 
two miles north and south, and the spots from whence extracted are 


284 Geological Notes on Zillah Shahabad, or Arrah. [Marcu, 


usually six or seven feet below the surface. The value of a bullock 
load at the spot costs about three anas. 

Laterite.—Large quantities of this curious mineral are seen scattered 
about on all parts of the table-land, but nowhere did I find it forming 
strata or beds. 


Alum ore—Martial pyrites—Sulphate of Iron—Potstone. 


Beds of the above mentioned minerals, occur associated together in 
five different spots in the hills, viz. two mines in the Koriyari-k’hoh, 
under the Fortress of Rhotas, one at Telkup four miles north of Rho- 
tas, one in the valley of the Doorgoutee river, and one in the Soogea- 
k’hoh ; these two last mines, I believe are totally unknown to Europeans, 
and would be well worth exploring. A description of one mine will 
suffice for the whole, as neither in quantity, quality or relative situations, 
or in arrangement of strata do they differ im any one respect. At the 
foot of the sandstone precipices, from eight hundred to a thousand feet 
in height, these mines appear as dark burnt masses of horizontally strati- 
fied rocks, of several hundred feet im length and from fifty to two hun- 
dred feet in vertical thickness. The arrangement of strata is as follows : 
sandstone a thousand feet, indurated potstone thirty feet, dark schistose 
rock or ore of alum ten or twelve feet ; what may be under this, remains 
to be discovered. The ore when exposed to the air becomes covered 
with a yellow spongy efflorescence, which has a small trace of sulphur 
in its composition ; associated with this ore is another, mostly in small 
irregular masses, similar to the odds and ends of stone lying about a 
stone cutter’s yard; it is a black, heavy martial pyrites or sulphuret of 
iron ; the saline crystals on this ore, some a quarter of an inch in length, 
are of a beautiful pale blue color, deliquesce upon the shghtest exposure 
to moisture, and when shut up in a box or bottle, the crystals dissolve, 
and re-crystallize into soft and light masses resembling snow, which 
under a lens display a most elegant assemblage of delicate and perfectly 
formed white crystals. These crystals dissolved mm a decoction of gall- 
nuts or black tea make an excellent clear writing ink. 

These mines are not worked to any extent; only a few maunds of 
sulphate of iron, under the native name of Kussis, being made during 
the year and exported to Patna and Dinapore, where it is used as a dye 
for Calico, and in the manufacture of leather. 


1847.] Queries on the Archeology of India. 285 


I was informed by the zemindars at the mines of a curious circum- 
stance connected with this ore, which is, that the ore never looses its qua- 
lities of yielding the sulphate, though washed and rewashed year after 
year, during the process of extracting the salt ; like the Soda lands in 
Behar, it appears to have the power of re-producing what, to all ap- 
pearance, had been expended.* 

Potstone.—Large quantities of this useful stone are found associated 
with the alum ore ; also in spots where the alum does not exist. At 
the village of Pitteean, on the northern face of the hills, a very fine 
potstone of a dark blue colour is quarried and exported to Benares for the 
manufacture of Linggas, images, pestles, mortals, bowls, &c. It underlies 
the sandstone, and extends for about two hundred yards along the base 
of the hills. In the valley of Doorgawtee I picked up a considerable 
quantity of dark black stones used by goldsmiths as touch-stones 
in testing gold. 


DADO. 


ws 


Queries on the Archeology of India.—By the Rev. James Lona. 


In my occasional researches into the Archeeology of this country, 
the following subjects have frequently presented themselves as requir- 
ing elucidation—perhaps through the medium of this Journal light 
may be thrown on them by correspondents in various parts of the 
country—some of them may afford a very useful theme for Essays. 

1. What are the grounds for believing that the aborigines who now 
occupy the Hills of Birbhim, Rajmahal, Shergatty, &c. ever lived in 
the plains of Bengal? 

2. Any historical documents giving a description of the cities, popu- 

lation, &c. formerly in the Sunderbunds. 
_ 3. When was the temple of Kali Ghat built? What circumstances 
led to its being established in that particular locality ? 

4. What accounts are there of the condition of Dacca in the time of 
the Romans? 


* This admits of easy explanation. The one is a sulphuret of iron, which by ex 
posure to air and moisture, gradually absorbs oxygen and is partially converted 
into the sulphate. On washing out the latter, the remaining insoluble sulphuret, 
exposed to the same influence, will continue to yield repeated supplies of the sul- 
phate till the whole be exhausted,—Eps. 

2aQ 


286 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. [Marcn, 


- 


5. What was the state of Bengal about the commencement of the 
Christian era ? 

6. Why was Nudiya selected as a seat of Sanskrit learning? What 
accounts have we of it before the time of Lakhman Sen in the 13th 
century ? 

7. Tamluk was a seat of Buddhist learning in the 4th century—have 
we any other traces of Buddhism in Bengal proper at that period ? 
Was Buddhism then in the ascendant at the court of Gaur? 

8. The causes by which Tirhét became such a seat of learning? 

9. What were the reasons of the degeneracy of the Bengal brahmans 
before the time of Adisur? Was it in any degree owing to their being 
infected with Buddhist notions ? 

10 What language was spoken at the Court of Gaur previous to 
the Musalman invasion? Was it Hindi or Bengali or Sanskrit ? 

11. What is the earliest authentic account we have of Bengal? 


Specimen of the Language of the Goonds as spoken in the District of 
Seonee, Chuparah ; comprising a Vocabulary, Grammar, fe., by 
O. Mancer, Esq., Civil Surgeon, Seonee. (Communicated by Lieut- 
Col. SLEEMAN).* , 


English. Goondi. | English. Goondi. 
Head, Tulla. Eyes, Kunk. 
Forehead, Kuppar. Nose, Mussur. 
Eyebrows, Kunkinda. Fars, Kohi. 
Eyelids, Mindi. | Cheeks, Korir. 


* A short vocabulary of the Goond language was published in the Journal, No. 
CXLV; but the present is much more copious and valuable. It is greatly to be 
desired that gentlemen engaged in ethnological researches among the Hill tribes, . 
whether of Central India, or of our Northern or Eastern frontier, would concur in 
the adoption of a uniform and well selected vocabulary of English words for trans- 
lation into the langauges of these interesting people. This would confer great addi- 
tional value on such collections, which would thus admit of ready comparison one 
with another; whereas from the absence of any such system, it is often no easy 
matter to find in any two independent vocabularies half a dozen words that admit of 
collation. We purpose publishing a vocabulary of the kind for circulation among 
such as have the opportunity of prosecuting these researches, the value of which can 
scarcely be overrated, and shall be thankful in the meantime for any hints upon the 
subject that we may be favoured with.—Eps. 


1847.] Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 
English. Goondt. English. Goondi. 
Lips, Sewli. Fire, Kis. 
Mouth, Tidhi. Firewood, Kuttia. 
Tongue, . Wunja. Huldi, Kumka. 
Teeth, Pulk. Salt, Sowur. 
Chin, Towrwa. Oil, Ni. 
Throat, Ginga. Ghee, Palni. 
Neck, Wurrur. Milk, Pal. 
Shoulders, Sutta. Butter, Nent. 
Nails, Tirris. Mare, Krip. 
Armpit, Kaukli. Cow, Mira. 
Stomach, Pir. Heifer, Kullor. 
Loins, Nunni. Calf, Paia. 
Entrails, Puddu. Bullock, Koda. 
Back, Miurchir. Udder, Tokur. 
Arms, Kayik. Horns, Kor. 
Thighs, Kiurki. Buffalo, Urmi. 
Navel, Mud. Horse (large), Perral. 
Knees, Tangri. Tattu, Chiddur. 
Legs, Potri. Wheat, Gohuc. 
Feet, Kal. Otta, Pindi. 
A male, Mandsa. Bread, Gohuc sari. 
A boy, Perga. Sujee, Jowha. 
An infant, Chowa. Chenna, Hunnain. 
A young man, —— Pekzir. Dol, Kiuisseri. 
An old man, Séna. Rice, Paraik. 
A woman, Maiju. | Cooked rice, Gato. 
A girl, Pergi. Water, Er. 
A young woman, Rayah. To drink, U'dana. 
A married wo- \ Lunguriar. Bring water, Ertera. 
man, To bathe, Erkiana. 
A chulah, Saidal. To wash hands \ Niirs. 
A towa, Pinka. and feet, 
A hundi, Kiurwi. To eat, Tindana. 
A ghurra, Mullah pirah. Male buffalo, Urmi. 
A cup, _ Miché. Female buffalo, Bodé. 
A chumcha, Sukkur, | He goat, Buckral. 


2 2-2 


287 


288 


English. 
She goat, 
A dog, 
A cat, 
A wild eat, 
Fowls, 
Cock, 
Chickens, 
Eggs, 
Mice, 
Serpents, 
Fish, 
A tiger, 
Come hither, 
Stop, 
Sit down, 
Go on, 
Go, 
To kneel, 
To go to bed, 
To walk, 
To run, 
To laugh, 
To sing, 
To dance, 
To speak, 
To fight, 
To beat, 
To weep, 
Bamboo, 
Buckul, 
Grass, 
Leaves, 
Posts, 
A tree, 


Goond:. 
Peti. 
Naie. 
Bhongal. 
Wurkar. 
Kur. 
Gunguri. 
Chiwar. 
Mesuk. 
Ulh. 
Turras. 
Mink. 
Puallial. 


Hikké wurra. 


Udda. 

Ud chihun. 
Dut. 

Hun. 
Miursana. 
Nurmana. 
Takéna. 
Wittana. 
Kowana. 
Warana. 
Yendana. 
Winkana. 
Turritana, 
Jittana. 
Urtana. 
Wuddi. 
Murris. 
Jari. 

Aki. 
Serrak. 


Murra. 


A root of a tree, Sir. 


A flower, 


Pingar. 


Sn a ee ee EE Ee 


Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 


English. 


| A mango flower, 


| A mango tree, 
| A bear tree, 


A tamarind tree, 
Sagun tree, 
Peepul, 
Not, no 
Yes, 
Near, 
Before, 
Within, 
Between, 
Behind, 
Above, 
Beneath, 
On account, 
Hither, 
Thither, 
Now, 
When, 
Here, 
Thus, 
Daily, 
One, 
Two, 
Three, 
Four, 
Five, 

Six, 
Seven, 
Eight, 
Nine, 
Ten, 
Twenty, 
Fifty, 
Hundred, 


a a AN A 


(Marcu, 
Goonadi. 
Iri. 
Ira murra. 


- Ringa. 


Chitta. 
Teka. 
Ali. 
Hillé. 
Hingé. 
Kurrin. 
Nunné. 
Rupper. 
Nuddim. 
Piya. 
Purro. 
Sidi. 
Lané. 
Hikké. 
Hukké. 
Indéké. 
Boppor. 
Iga. 

Ital Atal. 
Dink. 
Undi. 
Rund. 
Mind. 
Nalo. 
Saiyan. 
Sarun. 
E’ro. 
Armiur. 
Urmah. 
Pudth. 
Wisa. 
Punnas. 
Nur. 


1847.] Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 289 


Singular nouns form their plural by the addition of nk—as, 


Kora, a horse, Korank. 
Konda, an Ox, Kondank. 
Mira, a cow, Miurank. 
Manda, a man, Mandsank. 
Maiju, a woman, Maijunk. 
Neli, a field, Nelnk. 
Rin, a house, Ronk. 


Gender.—There is nothing to distinguish the genders except that 
the females of certain animals have a different name from the males— 


as 
Bilal, a she cat, Bokal, a tom cat. 
Yeti, a she goat, Buckral, a he goat. 
Puddhi, a sow, Ikundal, a boar. 
Kor, a hen, Gogori, a cock. 
Nouns are thus declined. 
lst Declension. 
Singular. Plural. 
Nominative, Kora, a horse. Korank, horses. 
Genitive, 
: Korana, \ of a horse. Korankna, of horses, 
or, Korada, 
Dative, ; Korat, } to a horse. Korankin, horses. 
Accusative, or, Korattin, 
Ablative, Koratsin, by a horse. Koranksin, by horses, 
2d Declension. 
Nominative, Gohk, wheat. 
Genitive, Gohkna, of wheat. 
; : : No Plural. 
Dative & Accusative, Gohkun, to wheat. 
Ablative, Gohksin, by wheat. J 
3d Declension. 
Nominative, Pindi, otta. 
Genitive, Pindina, of otta. 
: Datel: No Plural. 
Dative & Accusative, Pinditin, to otta. 
Ablative, Pinditstin, with otta, 


Adjectives and Participles are indeclinable, 


290 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. [Marcu, 

PrrRsSONAL PRONOUNS. 

Singular, 
Nak ornunna_ I, Imma thou, Wir he. 
Nowa my, Niwa thy, Wunna _shis. 
Nakun me, Nikitin thee, Wank him. 
Nakstin by me, Niksin by thee, Winkstin by him. 
* Plural. 
Mak we, Imat you, Wirg they. 
Mowan our, Miwan your, Wirran their. 
Makin us, Mekin you, Wirrtin them. 
Makstin by us, Miksin by you, Warrinsin by them. 
Demonstrative. Interrogative. 
Singular. 
Yirg this, Bir who. Ud he, she, it. 
Yenna of this, Bona whose, 
Yenk this, Bonk whom, Ten ] him, her, it, 
Yenkstin by this, Bonsin by whom, Tane them. 
Plural. 

Yirg these, Birk who. 
Yirran of these, Boran of whom. 
Yirkin these, Bonk whom. Tunna his, hers, theirs. 
Yirrdnsin by these,- Bonstn by whom. 


Indefinites—Bore, some one, Bara, something. 
Singular—Bora, what ? Plural Barauk, what ? 


VERBS. 
Imperative, Wunka speak. q 
Infinitive, Wunkunna to speak. 2 
Present Part. Wunki speaking. ¥ 
Past Part. Wunktir spoken. ; 
Conjunctive Part. Wunksi having spoken. 


Present Tense. 


Nunna wunki, I speak. 
Imma wunki, thou speakest. 
War wunki, he speaks. 
Mar wunki, we speak. 
Tmar wunki, ye speak. 


Wiurg wunki, 


they speak. 


1847.] Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 291 


Imperfect Tense. Future Past. 
Singular. 

Nunna wunkundan, Nunna, wunksi howe, 
Imma wunkundi, if was speaking, &c. {Inna wunksi howe, &c. 
Wur wunkundir, same for all persons. 
Plural. 
Mar wunkundim, 
Imar wunkundir, ia shall have spoken. 


Wurg wunkundurg 


Perfect. 
Singular. Imperative Mood. 
Nunna wunktan, I spoke Wunka, speak thou. 
Imma wunkti. 
War wunktur. 


Plural. 
Mar wunktim. 
Imar wunktir, Wunkar, speak ye. 
Wurg wunktirg. 


Pluperfect. 

Singular. 
Nunna wunksi, 7 
Imma wunksi, . 
Wiar, I had spoken, &c. 

Plural. > 
Mar, &c. 
Imar, 
Wurg, 

Future. 
Singular. 


Nunna wunkika, 
Imma wunkiki, 
Wir wunkanir, 
Plural. I shall speak. 
J 


Mar wunkikim, 
Imar wunkikir, 
Wiarg wunkanirg, 


292 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. (Marcu, 


Future Indefinite. 
Singular. 
Nunna wunkundan howe, 
Imma wunkundi howe, 
Wir wunkundir howe. I shall be speaking. 
Plural. 
Mér wunkundir howe, 
Wiurg wunkundirg howe, J 


Second Example of a Verb. 


Jim, beat thou. jimpt, beat ye. — ,, Jind4n howe, I shall be beating. 


Jidna, to beat. ,, Jisi howe, I shall have beaten. 

Jitur, beaten. 

Jia, beating. The verbs seem to be conju- 

Jisi, having beaten. gated alike, whether transitive or 

Nunna jia, I am beating. intransitive, and to have no pas- 
,, Jindan, I was beating. sive voice, nor is there anything 
», jitin, I beat. corresponding to the Hindusté- 
5: JUST, I have beaten. ni particle ,,3. No aorist tenses or 
», jeka, _—‘I shall beat. subjunctive mood. 


Tue Lorp’s PRAYER. 


Mowa Dowial budrut purro muddar-warré ; Niwa purrol dhurmat-mél 
Our Father heaven above inhabitant; Thy name hallowed 


aie. Niwa raypat waie. Niwar bichar ital budrit purro mundar atél 
be. Thy kingdom come. Thy will as heaven above is, $0 


durtit purro dud. Mowa pidlda sarin neut mak punkiut: unde 
earth on be. Our daily bread to-day tous ge: and 


bahiin mér upnin reina dherrim kisia-turrdm, atal imma mak dherim 
as we our debtors forgive, so thou to us trespasses 


kisiut, unde makin miwa jhara-jherti te niuni watnat unde burrotsin 
forgive, and us into thy temptations do not throw, and from evil 
mak pisihat, barike niwa rajpét, unni niwa bul, unni niwa dhurmat 
us deliver, for thy kingdom and thy power and thy glory 


mal sudda mund ital 4nd. 
established remain, so bathe 


1847.]| Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 293 


THe Ten COMMANDMENTS. 
Parmesir ital iltur. 
God thus spake. 
1. Kodawund niwa Purmestir nunna andir, namunné niwtr Deo bore 
The Lord thy God ya am, besides me thy gods not 
hillé audar. 
any shall be. 
2. Apun lane  kital penk, bore budde ai jins ital budrate 
To yourselves graven images, any sort of creature such asin heaven 


nuni dhurtile, unni yeté mundar, atal miuni kemut imat wirea kal 


and on earth, andinsea are, such do not make—you their feet 


minni kurmat, unde wirrin ramakisni minni kemiat ; iden laine lainé mak 
do not embrace, and their obeisance do not perform ; because to me 


an mundur, tinde dourana papun sate chawtin purro sasiut dusta-tona, 
jealousy is, and father’s sins for children on, punishment inflict, 


nati unni punti-lor purro, wurg admirun bor nowa 
grand children and great-grand children upon those men who my 


bairi munda, undé mat awén—mén sun hazarén nakin mink 
enemies are, and I from among those a thousand (who) me as 


pindatirg, unde nowa wunktan purro taki-turg, nunna  wurrin 
a friend take, and my commands according to walk, I on them 


purro durmi kia tona. 
my shadows throw. 


3. Purmestir-da parrol labarit purro. minni yeumat, tin-lamun papi 


God's name in falsehood donot take,. for guilty 
ainun wirg ménwal bor Purmesir-da  parrol labarit purro 
will be that man whe God's name in falsehood 
yetanur. 


shall take. 
4, Purmestir-da pial purriat unde tan swaf irat sarrin pialk bunni 
God’s day remember and it holy keep; six days daily 
buta kimpt, unde sub miwa kam kimpt, at erntida pial Purmesir-da 


work do, and all thy labour perform, but seventh day God's 
2R 


294 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. | Marcu, 
pial mundur, ud pial imma _ buttiai kam kemut, imma 
day ws, that day thou any kind of work do not make, thou 


unni niwa pergal unni niwa pergdl, unni niwa rdtkawal unni niwa kinda, 
and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servants, and thy cattle, 


wnni niwa pownalir rin mundur ; tin laine Purmesir sarin pialk 
and thy stranger (thy) house dwelling ; because God six days 


né budra unni dherti unni sumdtr unni cheitkunné jinsk —_—iwité 
in, heaven, and earth, and sea, and each creature in them 


mundatan, awén kitur, nude yerrtin pidl ram tir, Tuilaine id pidltin 
existing, them made, and seventh day rest took, therefore that day 


Purmestr dhurmat-mal tane kitur. 
God hallowed established. 


5. Imma upnén babonna unni awunna sewa kimpt, ten sin niwa 
Thou thy father’s and mother’s service perform, therefore thy 


yarbul durtit purro Purmestr nikun situr, paral aud. 
life, the land upon, God _ to thee has given, prolonged may be. 


6. Imma mauwan minni jukmat. 


Thou aman not kill. 


7. Imma pap minni kema. 
Thou adultery not do. 


8. Imma kulwein minni kema. 
Thou theft not do. 


9. Imma upnon bigantn purro labari gohai minni sena. 
Thou thy neighbour against false witness not give. 


10. Imma upnon bigantn-ta rota lob minni kema. Imma upnon 


Thou thy neighbour's house covet not. Thou thy 
biganiin-ta maigi-na lob minni kema, inde wunna_ ritkawal inde 
neighbour's wife covet not, and his house-servants, and 


wunna kinda, innui wunnal guddal unde buttié-jins, upnon bigantin-na 
his Ov, and his ass, and any thing, that thy neighbour’ s 


mundar tan purro lob minni kema. 
1s it upon covetousness not make. 


——- 


1347. | Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 


ho 
© 
cr 


Sandsumjee-na saka. 
Sandsumyjee’s Song. 
Sandsumjee-na saka kuyat, ro Baban, 
Sandsumjee’s song hear, O Father. 
Sark ask kitur, Sing-Baban hillé puttur, 
Six wives he took, Sing-Baba not born, 
Yirrin ask kitur, awité Sing-Baban autarietur. 
Seventh wife took, by her Sing-Baba was conceived, 
Aulér yétana Baban pinwaké. 
Of her pregnancy Father was not informed. 
Taksittin Baban, tunwa pari sumpté — kialeé 
Departed Father, his kinsfolk being assembled together 


Bariké _ bouke aie penk putta sika. 
For this reason to some one it happened to offer a sacrifice to a God. 


‘Hikké Sing-Baban_putti-lé-ai latur. 


Hereupon Sing-Baba began to be born. 


Loro askna_ sowati, sarin mutta. 
Small wife was sleeping, the other six were there. 


Awitun, koti aunaté tulla dirissi, “assun inga chawa putti,”’ 


Said they, grain basket’s mouth into, her head let us introduce in our 
house child is born, 


Ud it, ahé kint§ annaté tullatin durritin, 
So said, so done, into mouth her head introduced, 


Unni Sing-Baban purtiur, 
And Sing-Baba was born, 


Sing-Baban techi urmi sarté michitun, 

Sing-Baba having taken up, into Buffaloe’s stable threw, 

Unni nai-pila taniga dussitiin, 

And a puppy instead placed, 

Unni ittar, nai-jdla wattoni, 

And said, a puppy is born, 

Nai-pilla misate ; tank kawal kédé kiaté taré kittin, 

A puppy having brought forth, thence crows to frighten they set her, 


2 Re 2 


296 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. | MarcH, 


Sing-Baban, urmi ittin, ké yenk borré minni jemat, 

Sing-Baba, buffaloes said, that him let none hurt, 

Na tokar jémat, unni tordé pal pursi ten uhat. 

Nor blow strike, and into his mouth milk having poured him suckled. 
Au saringé ask whiur setin, pistar ka satur ? 

The six wives said, let us go and see him, is he living or dead ? 
Sing-Baban gursundir. 


Sing-Baba was playing. 


Augrul indé téchi mura na sarkté nuchitun. 


Thence indeed having taken him into cow’s stable threw. 
Mirai ittiin Sing-Baban boré jarniut 

The cows said Sing-Baba let no one hurt 

Natokar jemat tordé pal pirsi ten ahat, 

Or blow strike, into his mouth milk pouring him suckled, 
Agra kubbér tullick sétin, satur ke pislur ? 

Therefore information they sent to seek, is he living or dead ? 
Sing-Baban gursundur. 

Sing-Baba was playing. 

Agral téchi kuaén ruppa nuchitun. 

Thence having taken well into threw. 

Tisro didn hur séttin, satur ka pistur ? 

On the third day having gone to see, is he living or dead ? 
Sing-Baban aga indé gursundir. 

Sing-Baba there indeed was playing. 

Agral undé tinsi pullia-na surrit purro. 

Thence indeed having taken, Tiger's path wpon. 

Nuchichi situn, Pullial 4sk mandsél wandurg ; 

They threw him, Tiger’s female and male were coming ; 
Sing-Baban na arana kinchturg. 

Sing-Baba’s cries they heard. 

Pullial mian tras lakt, naur murri aidir, 

Tigress compassion felt, “ my child it is.” 


1847. | Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 297 


Ingi techi yét, Tunwa rimd wot unni tunwa pilausiin niaro irt, 

Having said so, took him away. Their den came to and their pups from 
apart set, 

Khandk tullana tunwa pilauin thitana 

Meat bringing their pups to feed 

Pillén hotita, pal Sing-Baban uhnud 

Their pups weaning, with milk Sing-Baba suckled, 

Thé kina kina ké, Sing-Baban hisiar atur. 

So continuing to do, Sing-Baba grew up. 

Undi dién winna avari tunwa pilénsiin 

One day his mother her whelps 

Miléf kissichisi, unni pilaniin indalat 

Together brought, and to whelps began to say 

Immer urpa mundana turrimat minni 

Yourselves among together stay, fight not. 

Tisro diai Sing-Baban ittiirke, mowa kaia désita 

The third day Sing-Baba said, my body is naked 

Makun putchial, kor, pheta tuchim 

To me a dhoty, dohur, and pugrey give. 


Adungi hatttim surde ucchi raimat 
She going Bazar road seated remained. 


Punkatur unni marratur maralur agdol passiturg 

A muslin-maker and cloth-maker that way came 

Techi wit, wurg tunwa guttri pétri nuchi surritarg 

Having got up ran, they their bundles having thrown away fled, 
Ud téchi tucchit, Sing-Baban tunsi kursi yétién 

She having taken up brought Sing-Baba took and put on 


Unni tunwa awarinna kal kurtir, 
And his mother’s feet kissed, 


Munna munnaké tindé didn unde indalatur 
Staying staid then one day indeed began to say 
Ki nak gilléle tuechim ud hénhud 


That to me a bow give. She again went 


298 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. |Marcu, 
Ucchi raimat, Waurrir sipahi gullele-warré agdol pussitidr 
Seated remained a sepoy armed with a bow that way came. 

Ud vit ktissi, Gulléle nuchi surritdr. 

She ran having cried out. Bow thrown away, he fled. 

Ud techi urriwat Sing-Baba sit ; 

She having it came and to Sing-Baba gave ; 

Sing-Baba tunna tummir singné gursi latur, 

Sing-Baba big brother little brother together played. 

Pittun pidir tunna tummur tan tinddr 

Birds shot big brother little brother to them gave to eat 

Thé kina kina ke, Sandsumji niga subé watir 

So continuing to do, Sandsumyt home returned with his friends 
Unni Sandsumji nida latur peuk bouk wandum ? lour ehat 


And Sandsumjt began to say has any one become inspired, let him arise ; 


Penk béuké waiyun? aga Sing-Baba imhén kitun 
God into any one not entered ? Then Sing-Baba inspiration received. 


Sing-Baba taksitar tunna tummur sungue muttur 


Sing-Baba was coming, big brother little brother together were 


Wasi autir, uddam atur wirrir Bummenal 
Coming came, in the midst was a brdhman 


Win Sing-Baba teta latur, Wur tedur ; 
Him Sing-Baba required to get up, he refused ; 


Tunnarén gussalakt wur Bummenil tingietir 
Big brother became angry, the brahman eat up 


Sing-Baba penk techietur. 
Sing-Baba the image took up. 


Snbe indalatir ke imma boni andi? 
All began to say, that you who are you ? 


Wur ittur ke immer urmitiun unni miramir keat 
He said that you the Buffaloes and cows ask 


Unni tunwa tummaén indalatur, hun dain kési terah 
And to his little brother said, mother go and call, 


1847. | Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 
Wur vittar kesi tuttur. 
He ran and called. 


Yen munté jins unde punchatité puna atur 
These three species before the punchaite assembled came. 


Jub Sing-Baba indalatur ké iwén puche kimpt 
Then Sing-Baba said that them question, 


Awen sun puché kial latur, yir bir audur? 
From them they asked, this one who is he ? 


Minne urmi wunktun yir Sandsimjeénir murri audur. 
First the buffaloes said this Sandsunyee’s son is. 
Wiurg indalatur, imma bane putti? Awittin 

They said, you how understand ? These said 


Maiga rundidian mungi muttir. Bahur mungi muttur 
In our house two days staid. How did he remain ? 


Awittin niwa saringe ask tuttchi maiga pikkilé nuchi angi 
These said thy six wives having taken into our house to kill threw 


Unni igga hillé saidr, to murana sarte nuchiche sitir 
And there not injured, then cow’s house into threw 


Awen piche kial atar, Maiga Baban at ? 
From these asked, How into your house Baba came ? 


Maraitin ké, Maiga rund didn mungi muttur 
The cows said, At our house two days stayed. 


Awen saringi ask agral wosi kidnte nuchi sittin 
These six wives thence having taken into well threw, 


Aga undé hille saitr. To agrul tunsi kdjane bewatun 


There indeed not injured, thence taking I know not where took. 


Sing-Baban piché kial atirké agrél imma behuth ? 
Sing-Baba they questioned that thence you went where ? 
Wir ittur id nowa awan piche kimpt 


He said of my mother ask. 


Wiunna awal piullian piché kia latur 
They mother-tigress asked 


299 


300 Specimen of the Language of the Goonds. 


Imma bugga punné mati? Ud it 

You where found ? She said 

Mowa surde awe saringé ask muchiché mutta 
On my road these six wives threw away ; 
Nunna techi urri watan, nowa pilan notita 

I having taken brought, my whelps weaning, 
Pal yén ihthan unni hinda hinda bala buttir 
Milk him suckled and here there with prey 
Nowa chowantin thetan sube jank pulliana 
My;young fed. All-understood, tigress’ 

Kal kartir unni tane penk thaira kitur. 

Feet embraced, and her a God established. 
Unni awé saringé asknin aden pullian siturg. 
And these six wives to this Tigress gave. 
Udneti tal Sing-Baban puttal atur 

That day Sing-Baba illustrious became 

Unni pullial nidé penk thairi mat 

And Tigress indeed as a God established became. 
Sandsumjee Babdna id saka aud 

Of Sandsumjee Baba this song is, 


Bhirri bans-Bhirri-ta sika aud. 
Of Bhirry bamboozungle Bhirri the song is. 


DL DL LPP LPL LL DLPDPLOPIPPUPPPSP LL LLP LILI 


- — ee 


JOURNAL 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY. 


PDI 


APRIL, 1847. 


Darrow PAOAOADR A 


Journal of a Steam Trip to the North of Baghdad, in April, 1846, 
with notes on the various objects of interest met with. By Lieut. 
Jones, I. N. (Forwarded by P. MEetvity, Esq. Officiating Under 
Secretary to the Government of India.) 


Three years having elapsed since our former ascent of the Tigris 
above Baghdad, and anticipating from the early rise of the water a 
more favorable season and better success than we experienced before, 
arrangements were made accordingly for ascending the river early in 
March, but the presence of the vessel being again required at Basra, 
our departure was delayed until the 2d April, when the river had be- 
come considerably more rapid from the high rise having already set in. 
We however left Baghdad on the above day, with one month’s provi- 
sion, 12 tons of coal, and 9 tons of fire-wood fuel. Draught of water 
with the above stores on board, 3 feet 10 inches, aft, and 3 feet 5 inches 
forward ; weighed from our moorings at 9-55 a. M., with two boats in 
tow, and passing through the Bridge of Boats, reached Triunba and 
Kathemein, the former at 10-35, the latter at 10-55. 

The banks of the river at this time present a beautiful appearance, 
the gardens exhibiting a diversity of trees of variously tinted foliage, 
and a delightful fragrance pervades the air from the now opening orange 
blossoms. The day is cool and pleasant, but a moderate north wind, 


_ though very refreshing, somewhat retards our progress. The river too 


is rising. At 1-45 arrived at Sheri at el Beitha on the right bank—2-33 
No. IV. New Series. Dg 


302 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. | Apnit, 


Tel Goosh,* a mound on the right bank, bore west. The country to 
the north of Tel Goosh between Khan Suweidiyah and the river, is known 
by the same name as the Khan, but the Khan is also sometimes termed 
Tarimyeh, from a lake situate in an old bed of the Tigris called Sh’taitha. 
This is now dry and is reported to be of the same width as the present 
river. 5 p.m. Khan Suweidiyah bore west, and Jedidah E. N. E. 
Many mounds of considerable size are to be seen south of Khan 
Suweidiyah, probably the Tel Kheir of Lynch’s Map, but I searched 
in vain for the south end of the Sh’taitha+ (or as it is misprinted in 
Arrowsmith’s copy of Lynch’s Map, the Shat Eidha) which is repre- 
sented to join the present river near this spot. I am informed however 
that it is lost in the desert near this. Arrived at the Khan of Jeddiah 
at 5-3, but finding the stream very rapid near it, proceeded on for 20 
minutes and anchored near the old Khan of the same name. The 
gardens to the north of Baghdad terminate abruptly about two miles 
above Kathemein on the right bank, but on the left, after leaving 
Méadhem, scattered villages and date groves are seen, as high as Tel 
Goosh ; from whence to Jeddiah the country, at present, is highly 
cultivated with wheat and barley.t On both banks, mud enclosures 
are met with every two or three hundred yards, in which the cattle used 
for the purposes of irrigation are kept, and numerous round isolated © 
towers affording shelter to the cultivators from marauding parties, attest 
the imbecility of the present Government. The old adage of the sword 
in one hand and the plough in the other is here literally verified. 

* Several mounds and lines of canals exist in this neighbourhood. According to 
Baillie Fraser, Mr. Ainsworth conceives that he has discovered in them the site of the 
Sitace of Xenophon. Major Rawlinson however, deems the present suburbs of Baghdad 
on the west side of the Tigris, to stand on a part of the ancient Sitace ; indeed the recent 
discovery of large masses of brickwork on this spot, bearing the Babylonian cuneiform 
character, in October last year, when the river was lower than it was ever remembered 
to have been, would seem to identify it as the site of some very large city. The great 
extent of the ruins, the size of the bricks, the great depth at which they are found (24 
feet below the surface of the soil) justify, in my opinion, Major Rawlinson’s conclusions 
and above all the cuneiform characters on each alternate layer of bricks, point out, 
clearly the pains taken in the construction of the buildings, rendering the supposition that 
they had been brought originally from Babylon highly improbable. 

+ Could this name, although at present an Arabic term signifying the ‘‘ old river,” be 
a corruption of the early Arabs, from the name of the Town or district of Sitace ? 


¢ The land adjoining Jedidah, Howeish, Mansiriyeh, Sadiyeh and several other villages, 
although washed by the Tigris, is irrigated by cuts from the Khalis canal, 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 303 


Received a visit this evening from the Governor of Samarrah, who 
has been summoned to Baghdad on business, but has obligingly given 
me a letter to his vakeel. 

Strength of the current where we are at anchor was found 24 knots 
per hour, though a few hundred yards lower down it probably amounts 
to double this rate. 

April 3d.—Left our anchorage at 5-38 a. M., the river having risen 
during the night 8 inches, with a cold northerly wind. Thermometer 
43°; passed the villages of Howeish and Mansiriyeh, the former at 6- 
40, the latter at 8-15, when it bore east on the right bank and west of | 
Mansiriyeh ; the Tarmiyeh ancient canal leaves the Tigris, and another 
large canal bearing the same name, and said to be of more ancient date, 
is seen about one and ahalf miles below. This has now been long dry, 
but the northern canal, during the high state of the river, still receives a 
portion of the Tigris and is lost in the marshes west of Kathemein. Its 
direction by compass was observed to be 244°. The river near Manstriyeh 
is very broad, but broken by islands. A khiyat* or wall is situate a 
little to the north of the Upper Tarmiyeh, having an old Khan in ruins 
close to it. 9-11 passed Sadiyah village and grove of date trees; the 
country every mile becoming more elevated, and the valley of the Tigris 
beginning to assume a distinct form. Reached the village of Sindiyah at 
10-33 and received 12 hours’ fuel. Remained here until noon to ob- 
tain observations, which place the village in Lat. 33° 52’ 50”. The 
whole of the gardens and date groves, from Jeddiah to this place are 
irrigated by the Khalist+ canal, which and the Dejeil, are the only canals 
of importance that the Pachalic can now boast of. A sad picture for 

* This is represented as resembling the Khali sidd ’] Nimrud, or Median Wall, in con- 
struction. It is stated to run in a S. W. direction and to be lost in the marshes near Akr- 
Keif. I think it very probable from the information obtained, that many walls of the same 
description as that “ par excellence” termed ‘ the Median” will be found to exist in this 
_ part of the country. The term Khiyut or “ lines” is here universally employed for “ ram- 

_ parts or walls” and differs materially from that of Nhar adopted in reference to canals. 
The Khali is however the longest and most northerly and therefore the most important. 

+ This canal isa cut from the Diyala where it breaks through the Hamrin range. It 
pursues a S. W. course ashort distance north of and nearly parallel to the river Diyala ; 
many villages are situated on its banks and numerous fine date groves are watered by it 
in its course to the Tigris, which receives its superabundant waters after a severe winter 
only. At other times it is lost in irrigating the country around Sadiyeh, Mansdriyeh, 
Howeish and Jedidah, 


304 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [ APRIL, 


contemplation is afforded by the remains of so many noble works of the 
same order lying scattered around neglected and abandoned ; showing 
at a glance without the aid of history, the once flourishing state of this 
classical province. 

Left Sindiyah at 12-10 p.m. and at 1-35 observed it to bear 137°, 
At this spot the high cliffs forming the valley of the Tigris abut on 
the left bank of the stream, and the large canal Nahrwan is seen above 
them about half a mile distant, bending to the S. eastward. From this 
point the river runs in a more westerly direction, and at 3-10 passed 
some high cliffs (assumed at 50 feet) on the summit of which a part of 
the Nahrwan is observed to have been cut away by the force of the 
current encroaching on and undermining the soil on which it stands. 
The cliffs forming the right bank of the river are distant from this spot 
about five miles. A long alluvial Hawi* projects from them to within 
100 yards of the left bank. This space only is now occupied by the river. 
The tomb of Imam Syed Mahomed bears from this point 262°. This 
also is the general direction of the river to the mouth of the river Atheim. 
The Nahrwan is also known here by the name of El Dojin. 3-35 an- 
chored off a small branch of the Atheim to obtain observations.t The 
western branch is larger, and is two miles distant from this. It now 
appears a considerable stream, but when I passed it in March 1843, it 


* Alluvium deposits in the valley of the Tigris are thus styled. 

+ The western or larger mouth of the river Atheim is 7’ 9’% west of Baghdad by these 
observations. Its sources are in the Seghimeh range of Kurdish mountains. The Kisseh 
Sir at Kerkuk,the stream at [44 and the Safidrud unite their waters in about Lat. 34° 
40’ north, and in the meridian of Baghdad from whence, under the name of the Atheim 
it pursues a course a little to the westward of south, through the Hamria range, and final- 
ly falls into the Tigris in Lat. 34° 00’ 80’. Where the Atheim breaks through the Hamria, 
the remains of a strong ‘‘ Sidd” exists, of great antiquity. This ‘‘ Sidd” formerly blocked 
up the natural course of the stream, diverting it into two ancient canals, named the 
Nahr Batt to the north, and the Nahr Rathan to the south. These canals irrigate the 
country between the Hamrool and the Nahrwan, and contribute materially to swell 
the waters of the latter. 

There can be little doubt, but that the Atheim is the Physeus of Xenophon, but the 
position of its junction with the Tigris in the days of the learned Greek, must be sought 
for, I think to the south of its present confluence. A line carried south a little westerly 
from the present delta of the Atheim, to the dry bed of the Sh’taitha, would in all pro- 
bability not only mark the site of its former confluence with the Tigris, but might pass 
over, or near to some extensive ruins, in which might be traced some features that 
would identify them with the lost Opio. 


1847.] Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 303 


deserved little notice, but the heavy rains experienced this winter 
throughout the Pachalic, have increased its importance. After passing 
the Atheim, the river becomes more tortuous, a long reach extending 
to the S. W. leads you to an opening of considerable extent, which I 
am told is the mouth of the Sh’taitha, and supposed to be the old bed 
of the Tigris (see note of April 2nd). We passed it at 6-15 and stood 
towards Khan Tholiyah, in a northerly direction. Anchored for the 
night at 6-32 near two islands which here bisect the stream. 

The alluvial soil now gives place to banks of pebbles and shingle, 
occasionally mixed with conglomerate masses, but the high cliffs still 
exhibit alluvium, mixed with many strata of sand, and in some places 
red clay. A salt stratum is observed near the present margin of the 
stream, in which sprigs of the Tamarisk flourish, but the rest is bare 
and much eroded, not only by the Tigris, but from the numerous tor- 
rents that find their way from the high lands contiguous to the Hamreen 
range. The Hawis, or alluvial deposits, formed in the valley of the 
Tigris, are now in a high state of cultivation. Obtained observations 
both for longitude and latitude, the latter deduced from the M. A. of* 
Antares was found to be 34° 00’ 19” N. 

Sunrise, April 4th, from the masthead observed the true bearing of 
Khan Tholiyeh to be N. 00° 45’ W. At the same time the following 
angles right and left of it were taken by sextant ; angle right, high peak 
of Dalahee on the great Lagros range 14° 25’; angles left of the Khan, 
Minaret in the village of Beled on the Dejeil 87° 32’; Malwujeh, or 
spiral tower above Samarrah 53° 16’; Tomb of the Imams in Samarrah 
55° 54’; Khan Mazrukji 63° 21’; Imam Syed Mahomed subtended an 
angle of 43° 34: left of Beled, and the Minaret of Sumeichah village 52° 9’ 
left of Syed Mahomed. From this station,+ the mouth of the old bed of 


* Both Dr. Ross and Capt. Lynch place the northern mouth of the old bed of the 
Tigris about 20 miles further to the west ; but I am assured from very good authority, 
that its true position is where I assigned it. There may however have been a branch 
further to the westward, and itis hazardous to differ with two such observant travellers 
as those I have quoted, but the nature of the soil changing from hard sandstone to allu- 
vium in this vicinity, it is natural to infer that a deep and rapid stream like the Tigris 
would select the first yielding soil it met with for a bed to convey its pent up waters to 
the sea. 

+ Observations (for longitude ) of a Orionis, place this station 11’ 16’ west of Baghdad, 
and as Khan Tholiyeh bore north, it also lies on the same meridian, 


306 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Avrit, 


the Tigris or El Sh’taitha bears S. S. E. one and half miles distant, which 
would make the bottom of the reach south of Khan Tholiyeh, in latitude 
33° 59’ nearly, consequently if my latitude be correct (which I have no 
reason to doubt) the delineation of this part of the river in Lynch’s 
Map is scarcely carried far enough south. It is difficult however to 
speak with certainty, as the map in my possession is on a very small 
scale, deduced by Arrowsmith from Lynch’s original of 12 inches to a 
degree. Capt. Lynch’s fixed stations are however very accurately 
determined. During the night the river rose 8 inches, occasioning 
the banks to fall in with loud reports. Thermometer 42° at day- 
break. 

Left our anchorage at 6-9 Aa. ™M. and crossed over to the Hawi on 
the left bank and received some fuel; completed at 9-15 and pursued 
a northerly course towards Khan Tholiyeh.* I may here mention a 
trait of Arab rapacity and general character. Some of the Jebour had 
been assisting us in carrying our fuel, and I presented them with some 
ball cartridge in return ; scarcely however had they reached the party to 
whom they were to have been presented, when one and all made a gene- 
ral scramble.—The person to whom I entrusted them finding it now 
impossible to distinguish those who had earned the cartridges, threw 
them down, and such a scene ensued as could only be told by any 
unfortunate traveller who might fall into such hands, as assuredly his 
garments or any other property he might possess would be thus con- 
tended for ; swords were drawn, and sticks of no ordinary dimensions 
whistled through the air, and when we left, the excitement appeared as if 
it would last the entire day. 

The stream is now becoming more rapid from the increased declivity of 
its shingly bed ; as we approached the neighbourhood of Khan Tholiyeh, 
our progress therefore was proportionably slow. At 9-50 the Khan bore 
N.E. oneand half miles. From this the river pursues a westerly direction 
to Khan Mazrakji, and from thence to El Ghaim,* a little more northerly. 
At noon, Beled on the Dejil bore 182’, Tholiyeh Khan 89°. At Ih. a 
tomb in the body of Nahrwan, called Imam Syed Hussain, bore north 
one and half miles distant. A small branch of the Nahrwan is also called 


* A caravanseral on the road to Samarrah from Baghdad. 
+ Properly El Kaim, but is pronounced as I have written it. 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 307 


here Siéi el Azeez ;* at the above time Beled bore 169°, and Tholiyeh 
99°. Khan Mazrakji, a place of accommodation for pilgrims on the road 
to Samarrah north, and at 4 ep. mu—N. HE. This is the nearest point to 
the Khali Sid’] Nimrud or Median Wall. I visited it in 1843 but it is 
.so well fixed and described, both by Capt. Lynch and Dr. Ross in the 
Journals of the Royal Geographical Society, that I need not further 
allude to it. 5-45 came to an anchor for the night in exactly the same 
spot as we spent the night on three years ago. I was not sorry when 
the declining rays of the sun obliged us to stop, for I felt much fatigued, 
having been on my legs the whole day ; indeed nothing but the greatest 
perseverance and attention to the steerage of a steam vessel through 
such intricate navigation as we have had to-day, could ensure her 
making any progress. From Khan Tholiyeh, the bottom has changed 
to a hard shingle, over which the current runs, by trial, at the rate of 
64 geographical miles per hour. The bed of the river is full of 
numerous islands and shingle flats, and as there is in this season of the 
year, but one channel of sufficient depth which receives the whole stream, 
it occasions, where it is thus confined, a considerable fall or rapid, some 
of which, notwithstanding, a heavy 8. E. wind set in, enabling us to 
make sail, we could scarcely surmount. The engines indeed appear to 
be paralized, when on the summit of a rapid, as the revolutions decrease 
from 29 to 23. This I can only account for by the weight of the 
vessel in her ascent, acting against the momentum of the paddles ; in 
fact the small diameter of the wheels is not calculated to lift, as well as 
to propel, the vessel up an inclined plane. 

The country passed through to-day has been beautiful im the extreme. 
The undulating hills forming the valley of the Tigris are now clothed in 
their spring garments, waving grass intermingled with flowers of every 
hue, forms a rich landscape, which the eye is unaccustomed to meet in 
the alluvial plains below. Perpendicular cliffs, composed of masses of 
conglomerate, laid bare by the abrasion of the stream, seeming to 
threaten the destruction of the vessel should they fall, are happily 
contrasted with their carpeted summits. The Hawis of alluvium pro- 
jecting from the various points of the valley of the Tigris are highly 

* This is the south branch or feeder of the Nahrwan. It is now much broken by the 


encroachments of the river. 1 have throughout erroneously termed the branch at E1] 
Ghaim the south branch, 


308 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Aprrit, 


cultivated, by the Jebour Arabs on the east and Mahjamma on the 
west. Obtained the following bearings and angles from the masthead 
when at anchor. True bearing of the Maluryeh near Samarrah 328°. 
El Ghaim,* at the head of the south branch of the Nahrwan 19° left 
of the Maluryeh. Tombs of the Imams at Samarrah 3° 20’ left. Khan 
Mazrakji right 110° 40’. S. W. angle of the old fort of Qadésiyeh left 
15° 33’. Shortly after sunset the south wind fell and heavy rain fol- 
lowed with thunder and lightning, but before morning the sky again 
became clear. 

At sunrise, on the 5th resumed our route, contending against a heavy 
stream of 6 knots an hour, and occasional slight rapids in the narrow 
channels. Reached our fuel at Qadésiyeh at 7h. 48m. 

While taking in wood I visited the remains of the old fortress and 
city of Qadésiyeh,+ situate about one mile from the river. I never had 
so agreeable a walk. ‘The country is literally covered with wild grass 
of every description in full blossom. Flowers of every tint and hue 
were crushed beneath our footsteps, and the very air was impregnated 
with their odour. It is of an octagonal form, with. round towers at each 
angle, between which 16 buttresses or bastions are placed, 37} paces 
distant from each other. A gap exists in the centre of either side, 
which no doubt, held the gates of the fortress, but all traces of them 
are now gone. The wall by measurement was originally 50 feet in 
thickness, and is at preseut about 25 feet high. Its interior face must 
have comprised an entire range of vaulted chambers, one of which is 
still entire and affords a good specimen of the whole structure. It is 
built of sun-dried clay bricks 18 inches square and 5 thick. No build- 
ings, at present, exist within its area, but on.minute examination, at 
one-third the distance across the interior from its western side, I 
discovered the traces of a wall, which extended from the southern 
ramparts, in a line due north, for 1240 paces. This line of wall at 


* See note page 305. This I have erroneously termed the south branch instead of the 
one referred to in page 305. + A rough plan accompanies these notes. 

¢ Fraser in his Mesopotamia and Assyria, describes the distance as 10 to 12 yards. 
How he has fallen into this error I am at a loss to conceive. If his distance were correct 
the circumference of the walls of this large fort would be, in round numbers, but 1400 
yards, whereas from actual measurement by pacing, 1 made its diameter alone 1500 
yards, its circumference therefore as a regular octagon would amount to nearly 4500 
yards, or above two and half English miles. . 


1847.) Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 309 


the distances along it of 700 and 790 paces, and at its termination, 
had other walls connected with and extending from it, at right angles, 
or due east, for 450 paces, where they break off abruptly, for I could 
trace them no further. A perfect oblong enclosure of 250 paces long 
from north to south and 100 broad, occupied the space between the 
northern parallels. A high mud rampart appears to have surrounded 
the town, leaving a space between it and the outer defences of 70 feet 
wide. The great canal of the Nahrwan is seen stretching far to the 
eastward and passing within 200 yards of the north-east angles of the 
fort. A canal or cut from the Nahrwén, about one mile north-west 
of the city, watered the country between it and the Tigris and ran 
along the west face of the fortification, throwing out a branch in a 
S. S. E. direction at a short distance below its junction with the 
Nahrwan. This offshoot entered the fort at its N. W. angle and ran 
mas. 8. E. direction to the angle of the city wall, where it bifurcated, 
one branch passing along the north face of the city, while the other, 
running parallel with the western wall for 640 paces, suddenly turned 
to the east through an opening init. After supplying the town, I 
presume, both this and the northern branch must have been employed 
in irrigation. It is probable indeed, that the whole space between the 
walls of the city and the outer defences contained gardens, for no 
mounds of any size or extent are to be met with which could lead us 
to conclude that buildings of any importance existed there. 

From the 8. W. angle of Qadésiyeh* observed the following bear- 
ings. Malwijeh Tower 328°, Khan Mazrakji 97°, Ghaim Tower 307°, 
Istabolat ruims and mouth of the Dijeil canal 267°. There can be no 
doubt, I imagine, that this city was one of importance durimg the flour- 
ishing period of the Nahrwan, and probably owes its decline and subse- 
quent abandonment to that vast canal being allowed to fall into decay. 
A small oblong enclosure, termed El Sanam, existed too on the summit 


* Qadésiyeh is 26’ 27” west of Baghdad. Mr. Rich, in his Kurdistan and Nineveh, 
quoting from Gibbon, imagines this to be the Assyrian city of Cardesia, but Col. Taylor, 
a profound Arabic scholar, deems it the site of anearly Arab town. Mr. Fraser in 
alluding to it in his Mesopotamia and Assyria, wrongly terms it a Septagon instead ot 
an Octagon, and has unaccountably placed it on the west side of the Tigris, whereas it is 
on the east bank. I presume him to have confounded Istabolat, which is on the west 
bank, with Qadésiyeh, though his description in other respects certainly appertains to 
the latter. See his work, p. 159. 

27 


310 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Aprit, 


of the cliffs, now washed by the Tigris, but half of it at present remains, 
the river having swept the remainder away—the walls however on the 
face of the cliffs are plainly distinguishable, and unlike Qadésiyeh 
itself, are built of fine kiln-dried bricks, but bear no inscription or cha- 
racters. The lower half of a statue (whence its name) of black stone 
similar to those of Egypt, was found here some years ago, and is now 
in the possession of Dr. Ross. Lat. of Qadésiyeh by a meridional 
observation of the sun, 34° 4” 38”. 

On the high land forming the western valley of the Tigris and 
immediately opposite, or due west of Qadésiyeh, the remains of a neat 
square town of some extent are met with. It is called Istabolat. The 
streets and buildings can be traced by a multitude of mounds and 
broken brick walls in well designed order, running parallel to, and at 
right angles from each other. A rumed wall of kiln-dried bricks and 
a ditch surround it. I had not time to visit this interesting spot, but 
the note here given is from memory, having previously examined it in 
1843. The Dijeil* canal leaves the Tigris close to this. The northern 
and more ancient mouth is now dried up. This canal pursues a 
S. E. direction and passing the end of the Median Wall, the villages 
of Harbah and Sumeichah, is finally lost near the Tarmiyeh water. 
The country is now considerably more elevated. 

Having obtained the noon observation, continued our course at 12 
hours 15 minutes, passing the head of the Dijeil and Istabolat, and 12- 
45 El Ghaim,} a solid quadrangular tower situated at the head of the 
south branch of the Nahrwaén. It is certain that this magnificent 
canal had two large branches from which it received its supply of 
water, and by some it is imagined that a smaller canal, called the Nahr 
Haft, having its mouth at the foot of the Hamrin range, where it is 
severed by the Tigris, might be called a third. The Nahr Hafti how- 
ever, is much smaller than the other two branches. It joins the centre 
one near the Kantara el Resasat from whence this main branch pur- 


* The Dijeil and the Khalis are the only canals of importance now existing in the 
Baghdad Pachalic. They exhibit a lamentable contrast with the numerous catalogue of 
antiquity. + See note, p. 305. 

t This gigantic canal has long since fallen to decay. It can still be traced for 300 
miles, and the ruins of former cities, met with onits margin, attest the flourishing state 
of Irak during its existence. Vast swamps and extensive lakes, in all probability origi- 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 311 


sued a S. E. direction, meeting the branch from El Ghaim which 
flowed in a more easterly direction, a little above the junction of the 
Atheim with the Tigris. From this spot they became one united 
stream, considerably more elevated than the surrounding country, and 
pursuing an uninterrupted course to the S. eastward over the ‘ Atheim,” 
the Diala and the present bed of the Tigris, it formerly fertilized the 
immense plains of Irak by its many ramifications to the neighbourhood 
of the Persian Gulf, and opening* to the south of El] Ghaim, I have since 
heard is a duct of this splendid work. In March 1843, I visited the 
spot marked out as the junction of the two larger branches, where the 
remains of a “ sid’ or “band,” still exist. A town must also have 
stood on this site formerly, for the ground was strewed with the remains 
of buildings, glass and pottery.—Opis is represented by some to have 
occupied this position, but I hardly think that opulent city could 
have left no further traces of its existence than the insignificant remains 
to be here met with at present. 

From El Ghaim to Samarrah the ascent of the river is very difficult. 
The fall or inclination of the surface of the stream is plainly distin- 
guishable to the eye opposite to El Ghaim; a single fall took us 40 
minutes to overcome, and I fear, had we not been assisted with a 
westerly wind which enabled us to make sail, our further progress 
would have been stopped. 

Reached Samarrah,+ April 6th, at 7 a. Mm. and remained until 9-35 
to arrange about our fuel. I did not however receive any more on 
hoard as the vessel is already much too deep, purposing to use coal to 
the next station at Dur, when the fuel we have at present on board is 
finished. 

The modern town of Samarrah, situate on the cliffs forming the left 


nally caused by its own decline, surround it in every direction, converting this once lux- 
uriant and highly cultivated province into hot beds of malaria aud fever, Its dry bed 
is now used as a high road by travellers and caravans on account of the protection af- 
forded in the recesses of its mutilated banks, from any of the numerous parties who may 
be out in search of plunder. 

* Sidet Aziz. See note, page 305. 

+ Inthe ninth century Sumere or Samarrah became with a slight change of name, 
the royal residence of the Khalifs of the house of Abbas. Gibbon, Vol. 3, p. 225, 

The Roman army under Jovian encamped here after marching and fighting a long 
summer’s day.—Ibid, 

Bea 


312 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. {|Avrit, 


bank of the Tigris, is now encircled by a strong wall built at the expense 
of the influential Shiéh population of India. When I visited it in 1843 
this wall was just begun. The town was before open and suffered much 
from the demands of the Bedoims. They used to encamp outside and 
threaten to pillage the place if their demands were not complied with. 
It however is now secure and free from such visits. Buta great over- 
sight has been committed in not extending the walls to the margin of - 
the cliffs overlooking the river, for the Bedoins could at any time destroy 
the aqueduct which conveys the water to the town, and thus by cutting 
off the supply of this necessary article, compel the inhabitants to come 
to terms. It is however on the whole a miserable town and owes its 
importance chiefly to two handsome tombs ;* surmounted by cupolas, 
the larger being that erected over the remains of Imam Hussain Askarf. 
It has recently been repaired, and, I believe, was formerly covered with 
gold similar to the cupolas of Kathemein, Kerbella and Nejaf, but is 
now perfectly white, the present funds not being sufficient to give it its 
former splendour. The smaller cupola, or that of Imam Mehdi, is a 
very neat cupola, beautifully enamelled with yellow and white flowers 
ona bluish green ground. Imam Mehdi was the last of the Imams 
revered by the Shidhs, and is said to have disappeared from the earth 
at this spot. A large hole over which this edifice is erected points out 
the locality, and from which it is believed he will at some future period 
present himself. It is therefore much venerated by Mahomedans, 
epecially by the Shidhs. Pilgrimst from all parts of Persia resort to 
this place annually. I am informed that 10,000 is the yearly average 
of the number of devotees to this sacred spot, but am inclined to 
believe this amount is even now under-estimated. No tax is here levied 
on the Pilgrims, but the proprietors of the Khans and houses in which 
they reside, pay to Government 2 Riego Piastres for each individual. 
The modern town comprises about 250 houses, with a Sunni population 
slightly under 1000, who possess among them barely 100 stand of arms. 

* See sketch accompanying these notes. 

+ Since the occupation of the holy cities of Kerbella and Nejaf, by the Turks in 1843, 
the influx of pilgrims into the Baghdad Pachalic has much decreased. ‘he security 
afforded at present by the mild government and toleration of Nejib Pasha, will however 
soon restore the confidence of the Persian devotees, and moreover materially add to the 


annual revenue of the province, which diminished considerably after the supposed ill- 
timed policy of the Pasha. 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 313 


The town is farmed by Government this year to the present Zabit Seid 
Hussain, for 280,000 Riego Piastres, or asum nearly equalling to £660 
sterling. 

To the north of the modern town, about half a mile, a curious spiral 
tower is situated. It is called the Malwiyeh.* Ascertained its height 
to be 163 feet, as near as possible. From its summit a fine view of the 
extent of ancient Samarrah is obtained. Heaps of bricks, glass, pottery 
and scorize are strewed in every direction, and the alignments of many 
edifices are plainly distinguishable from this commanding position.t 
The former town is said to have been watered by a tunnel cut under 
ground, having its mouth in the neighbourhood of the Hamrin. Traces 
of this tunnel are still to be seen in the remains of wells, (named Kan- 
nats or Kharees) descending into it. Both the Malwiyeh and the 
remains of an oblong building (the Jammah or Medressah) close to it, 
are built of fine brick, with a neatness not to be equalled in the present 
day. The Medressah is about 810 feet in length and 490 broad, hav- 
ing 12 buttresses between the corner bastions on its N. W. and S. E. 
faces, and 10 on its N. E. and S. W. side. The great entrance faces the 
Hebla and shows at once its Mahomedan origin; a fountain appears to 
have-existed in the centre of its area. The walls at present are about 
30 feet high, and on the S. W. side the remains of Gothic windows are 
discernible. To the N. N. W. of the Malwiyeh, about two and half miles 
distant, are the remains of the Khalifa or Palace of Motassem, the 8th 
Khaliph of the Abbasides.t The entrance is now all that is left standing. 
The ruins around occupy a large space and have vaulted chambers beneath 
them; many an idle tradition is attached to these subterranean apart- 
ments by the Arabs, and moreover “‘ Beckford’s Vathek” owes its origin 
to this locality. During our visit to it in 1843, we descended into the 

* See sketch of this town and the modern Samarrah, with a bird’s eye view of the sur- 
rounding ruins. 

+ A spiral road on the outside of the tower conducts to its summit. Fraser, in his 
description of this tower, states the existence of a staircase in the interior of the building. 
I think however he is in error, as I deem it, from close scrutiny, a solid mass of brick- 
work. Large holes, similar to those observed at the Birs, Nimrud and the Mujelibe, perfo- 
rate the pile at right angels, but for what purpose unless for ventilation I am ignorant. 
All the Babylonian ruins indeed, are thus pierced through, and the architect of the 
Khalifs in this peculiarity, appears to have copied the more ancient models. 


t He quitted Baghdad on account of the rebellious disposition of its inhabitants. 
Notein Rich, Vol. 2, p. 251. 


134 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad, [Aprit, 


vaults by means of a rope and block much to the dismay of the 
frightened natives, who would not trust themselves near the spot, but 
awaited the termination of our enterprize with a superstitious dread. 
They firmly believe that a Lion has chosen this place to hold his court 
in, and when we again made our appearance on “ terra firma’’ scathless, 
they thanked God for our deliverance. The vaults are of some extent, 
and are cut out of the limestone rock, but have brick roofs. A few 
scraps of old and much rusted iron and a fathom or two of decayed 
rope rewarded our labours. 

The site of the ancient Samarrah was undoubtedly well chosen. The 
broad and rapid Tigris bounded it to the west, the main branch of the 
Nahrwan extending from the Kantaratel Resdsa to the river “ Atheim,” 
on the north ; and the south branch of the Nahrwan extending from 
El Ghaim in an easterly direction to its junction with the north branch, 
on the south ; thus enclosing a triangle of rich land, whose longest side 
was 35 English miles and the remaining two 20 miles in length. Many 
towns occupied its area, and the numerous canals, offshoots from the 
great Nahrwan, crossing it in a diversity of lines, attest its former ferti- 
lity. Atthis time nota blade of grass or a single tree breaks the mono- 
tony of the extensive view from the top of the Malwiyeh. A death-like 
silence prevails around the fallen city, interrupted only by the howling of 
a jackal, who has just issued from some of its deserted vaults. 

W. by N. of the Khalifa and on the undulating mounds forming the 
right boundary of the valley of the Tigris, another ruin, apparently of 
the same order and date is seen. The buttresses which are met with 
at regular intervals along the wall, are partly standing, giving to the 
whole ruin, when viewed at a distance, from whatever quarter, the 
resemblance of a group of pillars. These buttresses are circular or 
square pedestals, and are neatly built of fine brick work. It is called 
« Ashik, or the Lover.” Some high mounds about half way between 
the Khalifa and Ashik, or near the latter, in the valley of the river, 
mark the site, I think, of some very old ruin (probably Babylonian) of 
much earlier date than that above mentioned. The Arabs however 
call them ‘‘ Mashuk, or the Beloved,” and a bridge over the Tigris is 
said formerly to have connected them with Ashik, notwithstanding 
which, tradition assigns to this place a tale, similar to the well known 
but doubtful feat of the Leander of Hellespontie notoriety. 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 315 


About four miles north of the modern town of Samarrah, a high 
tumulus stands on the plain. It is called Tel Alij* or the “nose bag 
round,” and is said by tradition to have been raised by some former ruler 
ordering his troops each to bring the nose bag of his horse full of earth 
for this purpose. It exactly resembles the tumuli to be met with in 
Syria and in the plains of Shiragoor near Suleimanieh. 


* This highly curious and interesting mound, in all probability marks the site of the 
** Ustrima” or pyre on which the body of the Emperor Julian was burnt previous to the 
removal of his ashes to Tarsus. 

We learn from Gibbon in his Decline and Fall, chap. 24, that the Roman army under 
Julian wandered many days to the East of Baghdad and afterwards countermarched in 
the direction of the Tigris, that the Emperor received his mortal wound and died within 
a few days march of Samarrah, and that his body was embalmed amid a scene of terror 
and distress ; we are informed also that Anatolius, master of the offices and the personal 
friend of Julian, with three tribunes met their death on the same day. That the army, 
after having elected Jovian Emperor, resumed its route at the next dawn in the direction 
of the Tigris and after marching and fighting a long swmmer’s day encamped in the even- 
ing at Samarrah. On the next day the second after the death of Julian, it appears the 
Roman legions remained encamped at Sammariah as instead of being harassed on the 
march, the Persian troops attacked the camp which was pitched in a sequestered valley. 
On the evening of the third day, it is related the Roman army encamped at Carche (see 
sequel) tolerably secure from assault in the protection afforded by the lofty dikes 
of the river ; and that on the fourth day after the death of Julian they pitched their tents 
at Dina where they remained a considerable time occupied in vain attempts to cross 
the Tigris and finally accepted after four days’ negotiation, the humiliating conditions 
of peace. 

The circumstances attending the death of Julian and the subsequent marches of the 
army to Dina are here so clearly related that any one conversant with the geographical 
detail of the country between Samarrah and Dur would trace, at a single glance, almost 
every footstep of the worn out and incessantly exposed legions. It will be seen therefore 
that the site of Tel Alij must have been the very ground on which the army 
encamped on the second day after the demise of the Emperor, and it is presumed 
that the act of encamping, under such circumstances, was one of duty and not of 
choice. The heat of a Sammariah summer cannot have materially changed since the 
time of Julian, the interment or burning of the dead therefore within 36 hours was impera- 
tively necessary. The reason for embalming his body I conceive was only a compliance 
with universal custom (vide Digest 14, Ed. 3, S.5, E. 8), or for the purpose of enabling it 
to accompany the army until the passage of the Tigris was effected, when comparatively 
secure, more time would have been afforded them for performing the sacred rites, than in 
the presence of an active enemy. But the insufferable heat, if such was the intention, 
I conjecture prevented its execution and caused either the interment of the body or its 
reduction to ashes on this very spot. The delay had already been extended to its farth- 
est limits, for the time above stated is the utmost that can be accorded to the non-inter- 
ment of the dead on the sultry plains of Irak or Mesopotamia, the army therefore was 


316 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad.  {Aprit, 


At 9-55 a. mM. April 6th, left Samarrah, and had hardly proceeded an 
hour before we grounded on a shingle flat. From Samarrah to this 
place we had been struggling hard against the violence of the stream 
and had nearly surmounted a fall of water over a shoal spot when the 
engines losing their power, the vessel’s keel touched the ground and in 
an instant she was thrown on the bank, with her port broadside expos- 


compelled to encamp for the performance of the inviolable rites of the “ funus publicum”’ 
over the corpse of the departed Julian. ‘This may reasonably, I think, be inferred ; for 
any delay, otherwise than on an occasion like the present, would not have been resorted 
to in the distressed position the army then occupied, and moreover, at such times, we are 
informed a total cessation from business was enjoined (called Justitium) which was usu- 
ally ordained by public appointment. The soldiers were then freed from their military 
duties even, (‘Tacitum. I. 16—82; L. W. 1X. 7) and in this case no doubt enjoyed a 
repose they had long been strangers to. 

It may be said that the act of embalming the body on the night of his death implied 
its removal into the Roman territories ; but it ean hardly be supposed that such an idea 
was ever contemplated by a famished army surrounded and harassed by barbarians at 
every mile, and amid such distress as Gibbon states, shortened the moments of grief and 
deliberation, even did the fierce heats permit such a proceeding. 

The circumstantial detail however, of the funeral obsequies of Julian, which took place 
afterwards at Tarsus, as related by Gibbon, if literally true will, I confess, invalidate all 
that I have advanced, for he distinctly states in Vol. III. p. 286, that the corpse of Julian 
was transported from Nisibis to Tarsus in a slow march of fifteen days; but again in the 
next page, in speaking of the sophist of Antioch, he esteems his general zeal for the cold 
and neglected “‘ ashes’ of his friend, this in some measure leading us to conclude that the 
body was previously burnt. Whether this was the case or whether the heart alone suf- 
ficed for Jovian to bestow the last honours to the manes of the deceased sovereign, will 
for ever perhaps, be attended with some doubt ; but we cannot at the same time, reconcile 
Gibbon’s description of the great distress of the army, their famished and wearied condi- 
tion, the factions existing amongst them, the anxiety of each individual to secure his pre- 
sent safety at the passage of the Tigris (where the loss of the army is stated as equalling 
the carnage of a day of battle), the subsequent suffermgs both from hunger and thirst on 
their dreary march through the wilderness of Mesopotamia, when the beasts of burthen 
were slaughtered and devoured and the arms and baggage of the soldiery strewed the 
desert for want of strength to carry them, with the statement that his corpse reached the 
frontier town of Nisibis ; indeed, the slow march of fifteen days which were occupied in 
transporting the remains of Julian from Nisibis to Tarsus will not, I think, coincide with 
the geographical distance between the two places of 409 Roman, 366 English, or nearly 
25 miles daily march, and that too, through the hilly country situated at the foot of the 
Taurus. 

These discrepancies certainly afford grounds for suspecting the general consistency of 
the historian, even did not the stern fact, which I have previously advanced of the almost 
impossible transaction of carrying the corpse for such a distance over the densely heated 
and sultry plains of Mesopotamia, negative such a procedure. 


a 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 317 


ed to a stream running nearly seven geographical miles per hour. I have 
been many times aground both on the upper Euphrates and on this 
river, but a worse position than this I scarcely ever occupied. The 
shore was 290 yards distant, and the dropping of anchors in the stream, 
from long experience, was known to be useless, as from the hard nature 
of the bottom they came home with the slightest strain. After six hours 
hard labour we succeeded in getting an anchor buried on shore, and a 


I think therefore we may fairly infer that, either the body of the apostate Julian, or 
the funeral pyre in which it was consumed, formed the ‘‘ Nucleus” o/ this antiquated pile, 
and that either his heart, or his ashes conveyed in an urn, received the “last honours of 
Jovian and the mournful lamentations and clamorous insults of the hostile factions” on the 
journey to Tarsus, The stately tomb erected to commemorate his virtues, on the banks of 
the Cyduus, has long ere this passed away ; but the imperishable monument of earth raised 
by a devoted army over the remains of a beloved general, on the margin of the Tigris, 
will endure for ages yet to come. 

For an interesting description of Yet Alij or Walijah, consult Dr. Ross’s paper on a 
journey to Apis in the Journal of Roy. Geo. Society, part II. vol. XI. act IX. p. 121. 
He describes it as about 100 feet high, but I consider it at least 150. Its present singular 
appearance may be accounted for, by subsequent rulers having fortified its summit as a 
place of refuge from sudden attacks during the ever-varying and disturbed stages 
which have swept over the country. 

The Arab tradition in itself, is not a little curious, and shows that a large body of troops 
were employed in the construction of the mound. 

In Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, Vol. 3d, p. 225, we find in a note that M. D’Anville hag 
demonstrated the precise position of Sumero, Carche and Dura. I have not M. D’Anville’s 
work by me, nor am I acquainted with the situation he assigns to Carche. From my own 
observations however, I am inclined to identify this spot with the position the Roman, 
army encamped in, under Jovian, the night previous to its reaching Dur. The“ lofty dikes 
of the river” can be no other than the high embankments of the gigantic Mahrwan, and 
by “ the hills from which the archers of Persia insulted and annoyed the weary legiona- 
ries.” I presume it meant the high conglomerate cliffs which here bound the east valley 
of the Tigris. These are diversified into a multitude of heaps caused by torrents from 
the highlands forming deep ravines (‘‘ sequestered valleys’ of Gibbon) on their passage 
to the ‘ligris ; unless it be as [ have premised, it is certain that no other Hills” exist with- 
in 35 miles of this vicinity. ‘he eye wanders overa vast and magnificent plain, relieve 
ed only by the twin monuments of antiquity known as the Zellal Benat and Ali, which 
jn all probability, were not only erected by the distressed legionaries over the ashes of their 
late Emperor and comrades, but remain to this day asad memorial of the sufferings they 
endured. 

The geographical distances of each day’s march will be found to correspond with the 
movements of a large army, and the precise spot on which Julian fell must be looked for 
about 10 miles to Ic. N. E. of the ancient Samarrah. The true bearings of the various 
objects of interest in this neighbourhood will be found in another part of this Journal. 
taken from the summit of the Maluryeh, onthe site of the ancient town, 


2°09 


318 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. | ArrRtit, 


chain of 150 fathoms attached to it, brought off across the heavy stream 
to the vessel. We now thought the heaving off certain, and were con- 
gratulating ourselves on our success, when the chain snapped in two and 
the vessel swung round with a heavy crash, as if her bottom was stove 
in, her head down and the starboard broadside now receiving the whole 
weight of the stream. ‘Tried in vain to connect our chain again during 
a heavy squall of thunder, lightning and rain, and desisted for the night. 
During the night the stream forced the lee-side of the vessel higher up 
on the bank, while the weather-side heeled over to starboard, into deep 
water, occasioned by the heavy current acting against the vessel, cutting 
or abrading away the bank below us. At daylight the port side of the 
vessel was nearly dry, while the water was within 18 inches of the star- 
board scuttles, and had we remained much longer in this position she 
might have turned over or perhaps filled when the water reached them ; 
at day dawn, however, we were again at work and happily succeeded in 
connecting the chains. From this time till lh. 20m. p. m. on the 7th 
we had at intervals a heavy strain, by which the vessel righted and 
eventually came off the ground by allowing the stream to catch her on 
the opposite quarter. Employed the remainder of the afternoon, after 
securing in a good berth, in pickmg up our anchors and cables. Had 
we grounded on the lower Tigris a few minutes would have sufficed to 
have again set us in motion, but on the upper Tigris and Euphrates, it 
is the labour of hours, if not of days. 

Part of the Shammar Arabs under Nijiris are roaming about this 
part of the country, as are the Al Bu Hamed. Large herds of their 
camels are grazing around and enjoying the rich grass which abounds 
every where at this season. Some of the tribe approached the vessel 
when aground, and a Bedoin I have with me was sent to them, to 
offer no molestation to our crew, while burying the anchors on shore. 
Two of the party were present at the affray in which Suliman Mirza 
lost his life, and in which our friend Timour was severely wounded by a 
spear through his lungs. They inform us that the person who slew 
Suliman Mirza by severing his head from his body at one blow, met his 
death a few days afterwards from an Ajail Arab, when they attacked a 
caravan. ‘They also profess to regret the circumstances attending the 
attack on the princes, and say they have not known “good” since. 
“Their chiefs have been killed and their children have died; their 


1847.] Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 319 


favorite mares are barren and suffering from disease, and happiness has 
left their homes.”” Some English iron, I believe belonging to Messrs. 
Lynch and Co. of Baghdad, was offered to us for sale, for a mere nothing. 
This had been plundered from a caravan a few months previously, and 
a common bottle taken from some of Suliman Mirza’s party was tender- 
ed for the exorbitant price of two Ghazees.* The former offer, I replied, 
I could not accept, as I too, had iron for sale, and pointed to the 9lb. 
shot, which Syed told me caused some amusement. The latter, I did 
not want and offered them as many as they wished for, which soon 
lowered the price of their commodity. These people appear to be the 
terror of the Jezira from their lawless habits. The Shammar, though 
feared, are much less dreaded. 

April 8th.—River rose three inches last night ; weighed at 6h. with 
cloudy weather and a south wind which, should it freshen, may assist us. 
At 7-17 Ashik bore west three quarters of a mile distant, Cha’afel Kelb+ 
some high mounds south of Ashik 201t. Sammariah 137t. Mahirgeh 129t. 
with the mounds of Mashak nearly in a line with it, Khalifa 112t. The 
river from this bends more to the N. E. for a short distance along the 
cliffs, forming the east boundary of the valley of the Tigris, thence north 
to Shinas, some modern ruins which extend a considerable distance to near 
Abri Delif, a miniature resemblance of the Maluryeh, which we passed at 
Ilh. amoderate south wind materially assisting our progress. At lh. 
10m. arrived opposite the mounds of Mehjir and the Kantarat el Ress, 
or main branch of the Nahrwan already alluded to. The former is the 
scene of a great action fought by Omar, Pasha of Baghdad, against the 
large tribe of Majainmah (Dr. Ross’s Journal Roy. Geo. Society, Vol. 
IX.) on the east side of the Tigris, about two miles inland from this, to 
the eastward is the upper “ Sidd” or “ band” across the Mahrwan, 
constructed of large masses of stone, held together by leaden clamps 
From this it derives its name Kantarat el Resasa, literally signifying 
“the bridge of lead,’ and although not actually a bridge in our accep- 
tation of the term, but a dam to confine the water in the low season, 
it might have answered both purposes, or with more probability, the 
name may be modern and come into use only since the decay of the 
canal. 


* About 8 shillings. 
+ Mounds of the Seven Sleepers and their Dog. 


320 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Aprit, 


Passed many encampments of the Shammar on the right bank near 
Haweisilat. They extend nearly up to Mosul. These people are how- 
ever, migrating towards Baghdad, as Suaffok, the chief Sheikh, advances 
to the south. The parties of Nejiris and Suffok, are now not on friendly 
terms owing to Nejib, Pasha of Baghdad, having invested the former as 
Sheikh of the tribe, while the latter claims it as aright. Ahmed el 
Kode (a connection by marriage of Suffok) informed me this morning 
that the Abeid once possessed the whole of Northern Mesopotamia, 
and that the present Shammar usurped the country in rather an origi- 
nal way, but a way nevertheless adopted even by more civilized nations 
than the predatory Arab races. He says ‘‘ Two Shammar families with 
their tents originally wandered from Nejd, and after some time encamp- 
ed with the Abeid. Among the chattels of the new comers a wooden 
bowl of extraordinary dimensions was observed, but it excited no fur- 
ther curiosity until the strangers invited some of the then holders of 
the soil to a feast, when the bowl was set before the guests, filled with 
the carcasses of sheep, butter, and the usual ingredients of Arab-fare. 
The dinner was duly discussed and the Abeid on returning to their 
tents were talking of the munificence of the strangers and the unusual 
dimensions of the wonderful bowl. A grey-beard of the tribe, who 
had not been at the feast, listened in silence for some time, and starting 
up to the dismay of his friends, demanded that the newly arrived 
strangers should be immediately put to death, adding with the air of a 
prophet, that the famous bowl told a story in itself, and that ere long, 
many strange fingers would be dipped into it. It literally happened 
as the old man had foretold. His voice was overruled in the assembly 
and the strangers’ lives were spared. A few months afterwards, Sham- 
mar after Shammar arrived and feasted from the much dreaded bowl. 
A few years sufficed for the total expulsion of the Abeid, and from 
being lords of the soil, that once powerful tribe became fellahs and 
slaves to. the formidable Shammar.” Such was Ahmed’s account of the 
origin of the Shammar in Mesopotamia, but nevertheless the Abeid are 
still powerful enough to render themselves obnoxious to the Govern- 
ment. They at present occupy the country opposite Tekrit and, I 
believe, now never cross into Mesopotamia. 

At 3 hours 15 minutes the tomb of Imam Mahomed Dur at Dur* 


* Dura was a fortified place in the wars of Antiochus against the rebels of Media and 
Persia. Note in Gibbon from Polybius, Vol. 3, page 226. 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 321 


bore east. In shape it is a cone similar to that of the tomb of Zobeidi 
ia Baghdad, on a square base. The village is a collection of miserable 
houses on the undulating mounds forming the east margin of the 
valley of the Tigris, and boasts of a small minaret. Rich appears to iden- 
tify this spot with the “ plains of Dura” of Scripture. The river opposite 
the village is disposed into numerous channels, much contracted, through 
which it flows at a very rapid pace.* Having with difficulty ascended 
beyond the numerous islands, came to an anchor above the village about 
one mile to receive our fuel which is piled on the bank awaiting us. 

The inhabitants soon collected. ‘The Pasha’s letter was presented 
and received with every mark of respect. After a short consultation, 
a boisterous fellow was called for, with hands stained with indigo, and 
who followed the calling of a dyer as well as Moollah and teacher to 
the “young ideas’ of Dur. The letter was handed to him to read 
_ aloud for the satisfaction of his auditors, who formed a circle around. 
Diving his right hand into his pocket, which was capacious enough to 
hold any one of his scholars, he produced a pair of barnacles, and fixing 
himself in a commanding position, vociferated forth the contents of the 
missive, at the full pitch of his stentorian voice. When he concluded a 
buz of applause signified the approbation of the assembly, and their 
willingness to act in any way I might require. 

To the east of Dur, about one and half miles, a high tumulus named 
Tel Benat} or the “ girl’s mound” is situated. It is similar to the Tel 


* On the fourth night after the death of Julian the army under Jovian encamped at 
this place, and experienced much difficulty in vain attempts to cross the Tigris. The 
ignominous treaty between Sapoor and Jovian was here concluded. The impregnable 
fortress of Nisibis and the stronghold of Singara, were acquired by the Persians in a 
single article and a disgraceful peace of thirty years’ duration consented to by the 
obscure domestic,” as Gibbon terms the newly elected emperor. Gibbon, Vol. 3, page 
228. Great difficulty would no doubt be met with at the present time in crossing a large 
army at this particular spot. The River is here more than usually rapid from the great 
declivity of its bed. 

+ This resembles Tel Alij in appearance. It is about the same height, and evidently of 
equal antiquity ; much care has been taken in its construction and the remains of a ditch 
and covered way are still discernable. The ‘“‘ tumulus” is no doubt of Roman origin, 
and: copper coins bearing Roman characters but too much corroded to render them 
decypherable, were found in its neighbourhood. We know that both the Greeks and 
Romans erected conspicuous mounds or piles over the ashes of their celebrated Generals, 
and itis presumed they would have resorted to this mode of burying their illustrious 


322 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad.  {|Avrrit, 


Alij, and can be seen some distance off from its isolated position on the 
plain. Between it and the village are many lime kilns. Lime is here 
found in great quantities, and Baghdad is chiefly supplied from this 
place. It is conveyed in rafts down the Tigris.* I remarked that the 


dead in a country where stone is not available for monuments. The sacred nature of 
the tomb amongst the nations of antiquity which preserved these structures inviolate in 
former ages, has equally defended them from the ruthless hand of the superstitious Arabs. 
Time also, instead of demolishing adds to a fabric of this nature, as every blast of wind that 
sweeps over the desert, carries with it clouds of dust which accumulates on and enlarges 
the original structure, rendering it the most durable and imperishable of all monuments. 

If Vel Alij be admitted as the tomb of the ill-fated Julian, we may conclude that Tel 
Benat covers the remains of the legionaries who fell in the repeated attacks made by 
Persians, and of the many who lost their lives in the ill-conducted attempts to cross the 
Tigris at this spot. 

* The rafts in use on the Tigris at the present day have in no wise altered since the 
days in which Herodotus, the author of the Analysis, and the Historian of the Emperor 
Jovian, compiled their works. ‘They are composed of the branches of trees supported on 
the inflated skins of sheep, and are capable of carrying aload of from 80to 40 tons. These 
rafts are admirably adapted for the descent of the upper Tigris. Possessing but a small 
draft of water, they are enabled to float over the numerous dikes and shallow spots met 
with in its course to Baghdad. Floatmg with the stream, two or four paddles, according 
to the size of the raft, are capable of retaining it in the fair channel, and accidents there- 
fore very rarely occur. On the raft being unladen at Baghdad the timber it is composed 
of is sold for what it will fetch, and the skins after being dried are conveyed back to either 
Tekrit or Mosul by land. In this manner the whole of the immense blocks comprising 
the Khorsabad marbles lately excavated from a village of that name in the neighbourhood 
of Mosul, by Monsieur Batta, the French vice-consul, at the expense of his Government, 
were conveyed to Baghdad and there shipped into native boats for Basra, where the 
national brig Cormorant was in readiness to receive and finally convey them to France. 

Travelling by raft as a matter of convenience, is far preferable than by the land 
journey from Mosul to Baghdad. A tolerable-sized tent sufficient to protect one from 
the sun can be pitched on this original conveyance, and a few books, with the varying 
seenery, will tend to while away the few days, (not exceeding six and sometimes only 
two) that may be occupied in the descent of the river. It is however not at all times 
a safe route, for when the Arabs are ina disorganized state, consequent generally ou 
some ill-timed measures resorted to by the Government for their coercion, they fail not 
in stopping and plundering any rafts or passengers that may chance to come within 
reach of them ; indeed, I am informed, that on one occasion, a British officer happened 
to be journeying in this manner and was thus waylaid ; my informant added that not- 
withstanding the over-confident individual was armed to the teeth, and had hinted a 
determination not to be taken alive, he was stripped of every thing he possessed, even 
to his nether garments. I have since met some of the party who helped to denude the 
unfortunate traveller. It was both ludicrous and amusing to witness the delight with 
which they imitated his piteous supplications to be allowed to retain only his shoes. 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 323 


inhabitants here generally appear sickly, and sore eyes seem to afflict 
the greater part of the community. Some of the women were very 
pretty and fair, and evinced no alarm at coming near the vessel. 
Having completed wooding by 7h. 45m. April 9th, we continued 
our ascent. The river above this is new to us, the vessel not having 
reached beyond Dur when we attempted the ascent in 1843. Indeed, 


This was however denied, and he was compelled to walk barefooted through the prickly 
camel thorn from the encampment back to the raft. His gait and gestures under this 
indignity were inimitably personified by his ruthless captors. I have since heard that 
had it not been for the vaunting display of so many weapons by a single individual, 
that he would have met with better treatment, and been allowed to retain his habiliments 
instead of being forced to appear ‘‘ in puris naturalibus.” 

The display and injudicious use of arms in a case like this cannot be too strongly repro- 
bated: a single pistol or a sword is sufficient to intimidate a few petty robbers, but with 
the lawless tribes of the desert, who attack generally in overpowering numbers, the 
exhibition of offensive weapons by a disparity of force, serves only to irritate and is likely 
to lead to bloodshed which the Arab in most cases wishes to avoid. Blood however 
being once drawn, the result is easily conceived. The fate of Messrs. Taylor, Asperiall 
and Bowater, is fortunately I believe a solitary instance recorded of massacre having 
followed the rash act of injudiciously using arms, amongst Europeans; but such occur- 
rences are frequently heard of as happening to‘the natives of the country, and indeed 
the “ law of blood” universally admitted inthe Arab code,in some measure sanctions 
the indiscriminate taking of life as an indemnification for the loss of either friends or 
relatives by strife or feud. This law, though possessing its disadvantages, is morally a 
good one amongst the barbarous tribes of Arabia, for murders would become of more 
frequent occurrence did not the fear of revenge tend to restrain the animal passions. 
A family having whatis termed ‘‘ Durn” or ‘‘ blood” on its hands, is generally shunned by 


the rest of the tribe, who dread being involved in its consequences. The same rule 
affects individuals. The penalty however of “blood for blood” can be commuted for 


a sum of money paid by the offender to the tribe of the injured party, only a part of which 
the latter shares. It is collected from the whole tribe to which the culprit belongs. 
provided he is too poor to pay it himself,and the offence is not of a very aggravated 
nature. The “ price of blood” varies in different parts, and is moreover not at all times 
accepted. In the towns, a small sum, according to the degree ofthe party, suffices, and 
may be reckoned as about £20 to 30. Among the desert tribes itis much more, 
amounting in some cases to nearly double these sums, paid partly in coin, and partly in 
camels, oxen, or sheep. On settling these affairs a good deal of form is gone through. 
The heads of the tribe and the relations of the parties concerned assemble at a fixed 
spot, and after payment of the penalty, witnesses are called to swear on the Koran to the 
nature of the settlement ; a hole is then dug in the ground, in which the feud is considered 
to be buried. It is then filled up and a curse pronounced on the head of any party who 
might happen to revive the quarrel. ‘he parties then separate. ‘This contract is not 
however at all times binding ; in a few cases a thirst for revenge predominates, and whole 
tribes are then involyed by the breach of faith of a single man, 


324 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. | Aprit, 


had we not been favored with a strong south wind, I fear our present 
attempt would have been attended with the like disappointment. At 
10h. 50m. a small enclosure in the Hawi on the left bank bore east 
two miles. It is called Khan Jozani, and affords protection to the cul- 
tivators when threatened by plundermg parties of the Abeid or 
Shammar. The tomb in Dur bore at the above time 157°. The river 
from Dur to this is known by the name of the Khan, and is much cut 
up into islands, rendering the main channel extremely sinuous. Our 
ascent to this has been one continued struggle against a heavy stream, 
and a rapid every half mile, which the vessel barely manages to over- 
eome. Progressing steadily against the difficulties, arrived opposite 
Sheri at el Aouja, a landing place formed by a gap in the clifts on the 
west side of the Tigris. From this Dur bore 149°. Caravans here halt 
to water. At the time of our passing, a Ghazu or plundering party of 
the Shammar were lying m wait for any opportunity that might present 
itself, of enriching themselves at the expense of others. Long before 
we reached Tekrit, the inhabitanis had turned out and the adults of 
the population even met us several miles below. At four Pp. m. anchored 
at Tekrit, and received a visit from its Governor, Mustafa Effendi, who 
put the resources of the town at our disposal, and rendered us much 
service by placing at our command several Cavasses without which we 
could scarcely hope to complete the vessel with fuel, the crowd around 
being so great. 

In the evening, I walked to the top of the cliff on which the old 
citadel stood. It bears evidence of former strength and, being naturally 
nearly inaccessible, must have been entirely so when fortified. The 
front facing the river is quite perpendicular, and exhibits horizontal 
strata of stiff clay, red earth, fine sand and conglomerate in successive 
layers from the water’s edge to its summit ; indeed, this is the general 
formation of the cliffs bounding each side of the valley of the Tigris 
from Samarrah to Tekrit. This isolated cliff is about 130 yards long 
by 70 broad, and in height 86 feet* from the water’s edge, but the debris 
of the former buildings scattered over its summit increase it to a hun- 
dred in its highest part. Large massive bastions of lime and pebbles 
faced with solid brickwork, abut around the cliff, between which the 


* ® | 


ich, in his work, estimates the height at 200 feet; he is howeverin error, for I be- 
stowed some care on its measurement, 


, --oe 


1847. | Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 325 


wall once stood. On the south face between the citadel and the 
modern town, and half way down the cliff, two buttresses of the same 
formation as the bastions, point out the situation of the gate-way. 
The bricks which faced them have been carried away for other build- 
ings. A deep ditch about 30 yards in breadth, but now filled up with 
rubbish, conveyed the waters of the Tigris around the base of the 
citadel, thus completely insulating and rendering it impregnable, before 
cannon came into use. South of this on another isolated hill, stands 
the modern town, formerly girt in by a wall which has fallen to decay. 
It contains at present about 300 miserable houses and 1000 inhabitants, 
but the space formerly occupied by the ancient town is of great extent. 
Some ruins, called the Kanisah, or ‘** Church,” are still shown. A few 
years ago, when Suffok, the Shammar Sheikh, invested the town, a 
trench was dug by the inhabitants for defence. From it many curious 
urns of pottery and sepulchral vases were exhumed, one of which, in 
the possession of a Moollah Rajib, spoken of by Dr. Ross in his journal, 
I with difficulty procured from the owner. It is surrounded with 
figures of men and birds, of a curious, but rude execution, and is 
probably Babylonian.* The modern town has two mosques but no 
minarets. The streets are kept free from filth, and altogether bear an 
aspect of cleanliness and order seldom seen in eastern towns. 

I am told on an emergency 400 matchlocks and guns can be collect- 
ed for the defence of the place, and am inclined to believe this is rather 
under, than above, the true amount. It is however, certain, that the 
Tekriths have maintained their position against the Arabs, and even 
compelled the powerful Sheikh of the Shammar to relinquish his 
intended assault on the place by the menacing attitude they assumed. 

Mr. Rich, in speaking of this place in the flourishing times of Daood 
Pasha, states that it was then farmed for 22,000 conl. Piastres annually, 
and that it boasted at that time of 600 houses. I presume this must 
be a mistake, for at present, though its dwellings are but half that 
number, and its population proportionably small, from the effects of the 
plague and other causes, the proprietor or farmer, pays yearly to the 

* Tt is now inthe possession of Major Rawlinson, C. B., the Political Agent in Turkish 
Arabia, and the learned and indefatigable author of a work which is now in the press 


on the cuneiform inscriptions of the East. ‘lo his other and varied accomplishments he 
adds, that of a keen and persevering antiquarian, 


y tab 


326 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Aprit, 


Government of Bagdad a sum three times as large as that mentioned 
by Mr. Rich. For 68,000 conl. Piastres, or a sum equal to about 
£600, it is farmed this year. The Hakim or Governor is Mustafa 
Agha, an Agent or Vakeel of the proprietor, who resides in Baghdad. 
I paid him a visit at his house, if such a wretched dwelling can be 
called one. He received me very politely, and taking my seat among 
the elders of the place, various topics were discussed. ‘The Governor 
paid us the utmost attention, and to show his breeding and knowledge 
of the world before .the motly assembly seated around, asked if I 
preferred coffee after the European mode, with milk and sugar or 
* Alaral.” Not to put him to any trouble, I mentioned the latter, but 
he would not be gainsaid, and after many instructions and lessons on 
the art of making it, his servants produced a tolerable beverage. Great 
complaints are made by the Tekrith against the Government, and at the 
present unsettled state of this part of the country. Fear of the 
Shammar on the one side, and the Abeid on the other, have prevented 
the townspeople from extending their cultivation to its usual limits, 
and the consequence is, the rich land laying between Tekrit and the 
Hamrin, is now a perfect waste. The inhabitants are all Mahomedans 
with the exception of one solitary Jew, who is on the staff of the 
Governor, and whose life is not to be envied. To the question of what 
have you in Tekrit? ‘One barren date tree and an infidel Jew,”’ was 
the reply. 

During the night obtained a meridian altitude of a Seorpii from which 
I deduced the latitude 340 35’ 45” N.; and from the citadel* I obtained 
the following bearings. True bearing of the tomb at Dur 8. 27° 87 

* Thave searched in vain for any ancient notice of Tekrit. Naturally strong and rendered 
in a measure impregnable by artificial works whose remains are still plainly distinguish- 
able, it is not a little curious that it has as yet, { believe, remained unidentified with 
some of the strongholds of antiquity. Both Rich and Fraser, though frequently men- 
tioning it in connection with the geographical description of upper Mesopotamia, fail to 
attach any historical record to this locality. In an old atlas I observe Birtha is marked 
as situated on this spot and having no works in my possession that allude to it, am 
compelled unwillingly to remain in ignorance. Birtha is however generally regarded 
as identical with the modern Bir, or Birehjik, a small town occupying an ancient site 
on the upper Euphrates; and the uear resemblance of the ancient to the modern name 
would seem to justify the conclusion. 


I am inclined to regard it as having been at one time a Christian town. The Arabs 
have a tradition to that effect, and the term ‘‘ Khanisah” only used to denote a “ church,” 


1847.) Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 327 


9 9° 


_ E. Magnetic bearing of the same S. 24° 30’ E. making the variation 2 
38’ W. Tel Benat near Dur, 150°, Khan Jozani 148°, Arnin, on the 
opposite side of the river, called Kamsah, 110,° opening in the Hamrin, 
where the Tigris breaks through, called “ El Tet’bha,” 3483°. A ruin 
of an ancient nunnery termed Darel Benat* or the “ Girl’s Residence,” 
stands about one and half miles to the 8. W. of the citadel. 

Having obtained observationst for the chronometer and despatched 
a messenger to Mosul with letters to the Vice-Consul, and with in- 
- structions to communicate with Suffok, to whom I addressed a compli- 
mentary epistle, we left Tekrit at 9-40, a. m. A new Pilot, or rather an 
old one (for I believe he is upwards of 70 years of age) was shipped 
_ for the river above this ; in fact he is the same individual who conducted 
the Euphrates under Lynch seven years since. He declared after having 
_ been on board an hour and witnessed the performance of the vesse] 
against the current, that she could not pass the rapids which the 
_ Euphrates found difficulty “in ascending ; indeed, what he says I fear 
_ will prove true, for our progress to-day has been considerably slower 
a than yesterday, and in many places amounted to almost a stand-still. 
At 4-15, p.m. having along reach full of difficulties ahead and no 
hope of passing them before night comes on, brought to an anchor in 
_ the only secure spot to be met with in the neighbourhood. 

From Dur, the principal chamnels appear to be confined to the west- 
ern part of the valley of the Tigris, but below that place the main 
of the stream attaches itself to the western cliffs. 

_ The latitude was observed this evening by a meridian altitude of 
Dubhe ee Al’ 52”, thus making our whole day’s progress of 63 hours’ 
steaming equal to 6’ 7” of northing only.t 


_ would warrant the supposition. Three ancient edifices in the modern town and a ruin 
on the opposite bank of the Tigris, are thus designated. 

_- Since writing the above note, I observe that Mr. Ainsworth, in his Asia Minor includes 
‘Tekrit (Tageit) in his list of Chaldean Bishopries, Vol. II. p. 276, from a Catalogue pub- 

lished by Amru in the twelfth century. 

The existence of Babylonian relics amongst its ruins, however, would refer its origin to 

va i date anterior to christianity, but under what appliation it was known by, or from 

. whience it derived its present name, I am at a loss to conjecture. 

_ * Probably a nunnery when Tekrit was a Christian Bishopric. 

+ These observations place Tekrit 42’ 16” west of Baghdad. 

; t A singular cave in the cliff forming the right margin of the river, is just. below our 


iy GD 
ye Sagp'e 


’ 328 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Aprit, 


April 11.—<At 6h. 14m. a. M. weighed, but in easting. the stream 
caught her bow and there not being room from the confined space the 
river flows in, to bring her head up stream with the helm, dropped an 
anchor in the hopes of checking her, but without effect, from the hard 
nature of the bed of the river. Drifted down a considerable distance 
before we could get her head round, and did not reach the place we 
started from, until 6-45. The anchor too, on heaving it up, was 
found minus the stock. Sent the boats with a party of hands to track 
up while the vessel ascended the rapid, which she did with tolerable 
ease. Steamed up to a bluff point of the cliffs on the west side of the 
river called Abd’l Kerim* from an old Immam now in ruins standing 
on its summit. Hauled alongside the bank to wait for the boats, which 
came through an inlet or Khalidj, observing a party of Shammar 
horsemen making towards the boats sent an armed detachment to 
prevent them molesting the trackers, on which they retreated. The 
boats having jomed at 9-20, steamed on. The river rose 17 inches 
between sunset and daylight, causing a greater rapidity in the current: 
It is hereabouts divided into many channels and well wooded islands. 
12h. 20m.—Reached Gubah on the left bank, near a high mound} in 
the plain, and the first tamarisk grove met with, north of Baghdad. 
Our wood is deposited here. Completed wooding by two p. m. and stood 
on. The channel is very tortuous to Kaleh Abu Reyyash. 

At four p. m, the Kaleh bore west. It is a ruined enclosure on the 
cliffs, with a fine plain or Hawi extending to the eastward; from it a 


present anchorage ; the Pilot termsit ‘‘ E Seliva,” or the ‘‘ Siren.” The Kelleckchis or 
raftmen have a peculiar dread of the spot, and will never stop in this vicinity, believing 
the interior of the cliff to be the habitation of a pleasing but seducing race, who lure 
but to destroy. 

* This is the burial place of a son of the Imam Musa, the seventh of the 12 Imams 
revered by the Shidéhs. He was born in the year of the Hejra 128, and was poisoned at 
Baghdad by order, it is said, of Harun El Rashid. He is buried at the village of Ka- ~ 
themem, on the right bank of the Tigris, three miles above Baghdad, and the Persians 
have built a handsome mosque over his remains the cupolas of which are covered with 
beaten gold. Rich’s Kurdistan and Nineveh, note to page 144, Vol. 2nd. 

+ This mound is of great antiquity, and as its name signifies in Arabic a ‘ Chamber or | 
Temple,” I think it might be identified with some of the last positions. I possess neither the 
time nor learning for such researches. Were the mound excavated it would no doubt 
afford some interesting relics. Its situation is about N. by W. from Tekrit, and isin Lati- 
tude 34° 47’ N. or 11 Geographical miles distant from the town. 


1847.] Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 329 


large encampment of the Shammar now occupy this magnificent plain. 
They are of Mejris’ party and of considerable strength. Nejin is the 
name of the Sheikh, indeed the margin of the river from Tekrit to 
Khan Kharneinah is now entirely peopled by the Shammar, and all 
communication between Tekrit and Mosul is in consequence stopped. 
They have vast herds of camels and sheep, which are seen gazing with 
their beautiful horses on this rich plain dotted here and there with 
black tints, affording a pleasing picture of pastoral life, did not the 
character of the tribe contrast sadly with its primitive habits. 

At six p. M. brought to for the night on the east bank. Our whole 
progress to-day, as deduced from the latitude obtained from an altitude 
of Dubhe, 34° 49’ 43,” has been but 7751” to the northward. The 
river rose three inches during the night. 

April 12.—Left at six a. mM. and struggled hard against the rapid 
stream until 9h. when we were opposed by a fall. The ascent of this, 
not 100 feet in extent, occupied us until 11h. 20m. It was only over- 
come at last by a south wind springing up, enabling sail to be set, and 
by sending our boats to track up in shore. 12h. 30m, passed a ruined 
Khan named Kharneinah,* situate under the cliffs on the west side of 
the valley. These cliffs now diverge considerably more to the west- 
ward, while those forming the east boundary of the valley of the 
Tigris, tend more to the eastward, leaving abrupt and broken angles 
at Kharnemah on the west, and at a point called Leg Leg on the 
east. Immediately north of Leg Leg about three miles, the remains of 
Nahr Hafu, or upper branch of Nahrwan, is seen. It is said to have 
conveyed the waters of the Tigris under the cliffs, through a tunnel, to 
the main branch at Kantarat el Res4sa ;+ another small canal or feeder is 
situate about two miles south of the same point. From the diverging 
points described above, the country is more open and undulates in 
gentle slopes to the foot of the Hamrin range. From Khan Kharneinah 
the river is very tortuous and is divided by numerous beautiful islands, 
covered with every species of wild grass, as well as with the tamarisk 


* A caravanserai now in ruins. Itstands on the high road to Mosul, and was much 
frequented when the kafilas pursued the route by the Jozira. The encroachments and 
increasing power of the Arabs rendering travelling by this route unsafe, caused its aban- 
donment. 

+ Ancient Carche. 


330 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad,  Arrit, 


and poplar; some of the latter have obtained to considerable size, 
affording a precarious livelihood to the inhabitants of Tekrit, who raft 
it to Baghdad for sale. After leaving Kharnemah our progress was a 
little more rapid, owing to the fine southerly wind which continued till 
sunset, when we made fast for the night at an island about three miles 
below ‘ Il Tettha,” or the “ opening,’ where the Tigris breaks through 
the hills. The latitude observed here was 34° 56’ 57” and the northern 
mouth of the Nahrwan bore N. E. one mile distant. The continuation 
of the Hamrin on the west side of the Tigris, termed Jebal Makhal, 
is now end on, and bears N. N. W. haif W. The eastern ridge, or that 
termed Jebal Hamrin, extends from a little above this point to the 
eastward, and is an incongruous heap of barren mounds, composed of 
sandstone and pebbles without a blade of vegetation. Both the Ham- 
rin and the Jebal Makhul are alike in formation, and may be reckoned 
about 500 feet high at this spot, though their altitude decreases as 
they advance to the S. E. The rich plain at their base is in pleasing 
contrast with their desolate summit. During the night the river fell six 
inches, Thermometer at 50° to 85° in the shade. 

April 13th.—Left at 5h. 45m. and not bemg favored as yesterday 
with the south wind, advanced at a snail’s pace to our wood, which we 
reached at 7 A.M. It is cut in'a small tamarisk grove just above the 
mouth of the Nahr Haffu, and covered in with branches to prevent its 
being fired by the Arabs. Here we remained wooding and despatching 
answers to letters just received from Baghdad until 9h. 30m. Madea 
fresh start at this time, but as I had anticipated, after receiving our 
fuel, with little or no success, struggled hard against the stream, which 
here breaks through the hills with much force, until 11h. 20m. when 
we were brought toa stand-still without any hopes of accomplishing 
our object, and on considering that our success hitherto had been mainly 
attributable to fresh S. E. wind, and that obstacles of a much: more 
formidable nature than those we had encountered awaited us, besides 
the risk we ran of grounding and eventual detention, should the water 
fall after the high state the river had risen to, I reluctantly determined 
on retracing our steps to Baghdad, and accordingly put the helm up. 

The last day’s journey has been through a rich country teeming with — 
wild plants of nearly every description ; undulating slopes of an emerald 
green enamelled with flowers of every hue are spread before the eye like 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 33 


a rich carpet, at every turn of the stream, and nothing is wanting but 
the hand of man to turn such a profusion of nature’s gifts to account. 
But all is a vast solitude. The silence is unbroken except by the rush- 
ing of the torrent past, the time-eroded cliffs, or by the screech of an 
owl, awakened from his lethargy by the flap, flap, flap of our paddle 
wheels. When Mr. Rich passed this spot some 20 years’ ago, all was 
- bustle and activity. Arab tribes were located on the banks of the river, 
and the beautiful islands, rich in their spring garments, formed the 
abode of the peaceful cultivator. The ruthless Shammar have since 
then, by the weakness of the Government, spread devastation wherever 
they pitched their tents, and, thinned by the plague which assailed the 
Pachalic in 1831, the former population have been obliged to fice to the 
more secure districts in the neighbourhood of Kerkuk. 

The rapidity with which we are now descending after our hard strug- 
gle upwards, appears to gain fresh impetus at every mile. Rocks and 
islands, steep cliffs and shingle banks, quickly succeed each other. Cattle, 
tents, and men are reached in a single hour, and the silent desolation of 
yesterday is exchanged for the noise and activity of animated nature. 
The following places were passed at the respective times found opposite 
to them, viz. Khan Kharneinah 00h. 52m. Place anchored at on the 

evening of April 11th, th. 15m. Kaleh Reyyash lh. 30m. Reached 
Tekrit at 3h. 20m. vp. m. thus performing the descent in 3h. 50m. 
which had occupied us 30 hours steaming on the journey upwards. 
Between Abdel Kerim and Kaleh Reyyash, a small stream or torrent 
fall into the Tigris on the left bank. It isnamed Nahr Milha, and is 
said to be of considerable size during the winter months, when swollen 
with the torrents from the Hamrin range. 

_ April 14th.—Reached Samarrah* at 9h. 9m. a. mM. Remained here 
during the day to make arrangements regarding the despatch of our 
overplus fuel to Baghdad by raft. 

In the evening visited the Maluryah, from its summit I obtained the 
following true bearings as deduced from magnetic by a prismatic com- 
pass. Minaret or tomb of Imam Mahomed Dur at Dur 342° 45’; Khan 
Tholush 119° 30’; Khan Mazrakji 132’; El Ghaim, tower at the entrance 
of the south branch of the Nahrwan, 165° 30’; ruins of Ashik, on the 


* By good observations for latitude and longtitude, I place Samarrah in 34° 11 
33” North, and 32’ west of Baghdad, 


332 Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. [Aprit 


right bank opposite, 299° 30”. Tel Benat or the.“ girl’s mound” near 
Dur, 345° 30’. Tel Alij or the “nose bag mound” 18° 30%. Khalifa 
or old palace, 341° 00.’ Qadésiyeh old fortress extending from 147 
to 157°; Istabolat town 1670; variation of the needle 2° 55’ west. 

April 15th.—Left Samarrah at 6h. 21m. and steamed down the river 
against a heavy south wind, which in the reaches directly opposite to it 
raised the waters of the Tigris into a considerable swell. Passed Qadé- 
siyeh at 7h. 25m. ; Khan Mazrakji 8h. 10m.; Khan Tholiyeh 9h. 3m. ; 
mouth of the Atheim 10h. 0m. ; Sindiyeh, where we stopped for fuel, 
at 1lh. 52m. ; Jedidel village 3h. 7m. Pp. m. and anchored off the gar- 
dens of Trumbee in a heavy squall of thunder, lightning, hail, and 
rain at 6h. 20m. The next morning took up our old berth at Baghdad 
after passing through the bridge of boats. 

From these observations it will be seen that the journey northward 
against the stream occupied 863 hours steaming, while the descent was 
performed in the short space of 19 hours. 

I much regret the termination of our trip, for I had flattered myself 
that it might not only prove useful in a geographical sense, but also 
both instructive and amusing. I had contemplated, could I have only 
reached the neighbourhood of Mosul, a visit to that town and the 
adjacent ruins of the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Khorsabad and 
Nimrud,* as well as a minute examination of the interesting Al Hadhr, 


* A large and very ancient mound, I believe first described by Mr. Rich in his Kurdistan 
and Niniveh. He identifies it with the Larissa of Xenophon. The learned Bochart in allud - 
ing to this spot, remarks the improbability of a town with such a name existing in this 
partof the world previous to the conquests of Alexander. He therefore conjectures 
that this city isthe Resen mentioned by Moses in Genesis x. 12, and imagines the name 
Larissa to have been applied to it by Xenophon not only from the attachment of the 
Greeks to this peculiar name, but from its resemblance to the Hebrew Laresen “‘ of 
Resen,” which no doubt suggested its being corrupted to Larissa. He concludes by ob- 
serving that it is easy to imagine how this word (Laresen) might be softened by a Greek 
termination and made Larissa. 

Mr. Fraser, in his work on Mesopotamia and Assyria, states it is also known by the ap- 
pellation of Al.Athus or Asshur, from which the whole country derived its name. Be 
this as it may, there can be now no doubt of its great antiquity, forthe enterprizing and 
intelligent Bukhtyari traveller, Mr. Layard, so far back as last November, succeeded 
in discovering with little labour some beautiful specimens of antique statuary, in very 
high relief, and large slabs covered with the Assyrian cuneiform writing. He is now 
actively employed in extensive excavations since he obtained the Firman from the Porte, 


1847.| Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Baghdad. 333 


so graphically described by my friend Dr. Ross, and I feel the disap- 
pointment the more, as I have already been six years in this country 
without ever having had such an opportunity, my duties nut permitting 
me to absent myself from the vessel for a length of time, such as 
would be required to perform the journey by land from Baghdad. 

The failure of this attempt is not to be attributed to any severe 
obstacles met with in the navigation of the Upper Tigris, for to a 
vessel possessing the power of those now running on the Thames of an 
average speed of 10 knots per hour, such difficulties as the Nitocris 
experienced would be deemed of minor importance. The Nitocris 
indeed under the most favorable circumstances in still water, cannot 
exceed the speed of 8 knots per hour, having a wheel of 12 feet dia- 
meter only, and a short stroke of 30 inches, more cannot be expected of 
her. By some miscalculation of the designer of the vessel this diameter 
of 12 feet is further reduced to 11 feet 4 inches, from being obliged to 
reef the paddle floats; as when carried out to the full extent of the 
circumference of the wheels, experience has proved, that she is much less 
effective than in her present state. The engines are in fact either 
placed too low in the vessel, or when launched the hull must have drawn 
more water than was calculated upon. 

It is true that the Huphrates, built under the superintendence of 
Col. Chesney ; ascended to a much higher point when commanded by 


and [ am informed has realized in his discoveries all that an ardent antiquarian can wish 
for; indeed Nimrud is represented as inexhaustible. 1t is probable that Mr. Layard’s 
first cargo of “ reliques’’ have ere this, reached Baghdad, thus far on its way to England, 
and it is hoped, if the Government do not undertake the further excavation of this inter- 
esting mound, that some public body will lend its endeavours to facilitate Mr. Layard in 
the objects he has in view, and thus secure to England a rich mine of antique specimens, 
unique of their kind, which will afford matter for enquiry and further research into the 
large field now opened to us in Mesopotamia, and without doubt tend to elucidate and 
finally brighten the few glimpses afforded us, into the hitherto dark pages of ancient 
history. 

The untiring and ardent mind of Major Rawlinson, I think, first suggested the idea 
of excavating on this site, and the antiquarian community of Europe are not only indebt- 
ed to him, but to Sir Stratford Canning, H. B. M. Ambassador at Constantinople, who in 
addition to opening the mound, undertook, with a munificence rarely met with, to advance 
from his private purse the necessary funds for commencing the operations on an extensive 
seale. His unceasing exertions too, with the ministers of Constantinople to secure by 
Firman, the right of exploration on Turkish soil, without which Mr, Layard’s exertions 
would have proved fruitless, must claim for His Excellency the gratitude of the British 
public. It only remains now for the Government to continue what has thus been so 


liberally begun. 
2Y¥ 


334 Note on the Sculptures of Bédh Gyah. [| APRIL, 


Captain Lynch; but in all respects she was a superior vessel, though 
drawing a little more water than the Nitocris, and carried her paddle 
shaft at a considerable height above her deck, thus giving a diameter 
of wheel of nearly one-third more. To the above causes then must be 
imputed the inability of the Nitocris to perform the ascent of the Upper 
Tigris, as I have said before, that under the most favorable circumstan- 
ces (without either fuel or provisions) her speed does not exceed 8 
knots, it can hardly be deemed a matter of surprize that she should have 
failed to contend against a stream of 63 geographical miles per hour with 
occasional falls, when it is considered that she carried above one month’s 
provisions and 18 tons of fuel, besides the guns, material and men, on 
the present expedition. 

When I left Baghdad I hoped for, but did not anticipate success ; I 
am therefore not disappointed. We have at all events to congratulate 
ourselves having ascended tothe Hamrin, whereas our former journey, 
having the same objects in view, terminated at Dur from an insufficiency 
of water. : 

The bearings throughout these notes are true, excepting where 
expressly mentioned by compass, and are reckoned from north to the 
right ; east being 90°, south 180, west 270, and north 360°. 


Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyah, by Capt. M. Kirror, 6th N. I. 


Often has it occurred to me that if those who could draw even toler- 
ably, would make rough outlines and send them to our Society, very 
great benefit might be derived, not only would the fast mouldering 
and vanishing relics of byegone days be preserved to memory, but 
we should have the means of comparing graven records from all parts 
of India, and perhaps be thus able to set many disputed points of his- 


tory at rest, particularly as regards the habits of the early races, their 


: 


objects of worship, their costumes, implements of husbandry, and of 


warfare. The few opportunities I have enjoyed of examining a tithe of 


the curiosities in this presidency, convince me of the justice of a remark 


of James Prinsep’s on the subject of the art of painting and sculptur- 
ing practised by the early Buddhists, (see Note, p. 687, Vol. VI. of the 
Journal,) “it explains the practice equally, and teaches as how we may 


eS ee oe eee 


* 


1847. | Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyah. 335 


successfully analyse the events depicted in the drawings of Adjunta, 
perchance, or the sculptures of Bhilsa.””>—What would not our talented 
and ever-to-be-lamented friend have given to see the clumsy though 
interesting objects, the subject of this paper? In these we find the wor- 
ship of the Dagop and the Chuttur, of the Sun and of Fire, of deities 
hitherto unknown to us, but which appear to have reference to bramani- 
eal creed, and point to Egyptian origin. 

As the best way to induce and encourage an undertaking is to set a 
good example, I now lay before the Society a portfolio of rough 
sketches of some of the curious sculptures of unquestionable antiquity 
found scattered here and there at the former parental seat of Buddhism 
—Bédh Gyah. 

It will be seen that these bassreliefs are in medallion, they form the 
ornament of posts or pillars which, from the elliptical sockets remain- 
ing, show them to have supported a railing similar to that still existing 
around the Tope or Chaitya at Bhilsa, and represented in the very 
sculptures themselves, not only around the Topes, but forming enclo- 
sures for the sacred Trees and ‘‘ Chutturs’” (Umbrellas), &c. This 
pattern, which I shall call the “rail or bar pattern,” I had years since 
remarked as a peculiarity ; it is to be found in the present sculptures, in 


_ the caves of Western India, Mahabullipore and Amaravatti, in the 


caves of Kundgirri and the Tope of Bhilsa, in fact it may be considered 
as the certain and indisputable mark of early Buddhist works. We have 
a square pillar with similar sockets in our museum, on one face of which 
is the figure of a priestess holding a bird cage, and on the other probably 
the elephant and Maya Davee, illustrative of her dream related in the 
Pali annals ; it isin Agra red sandstone, and I believe was found at Mut- 
tra and deposited in the museum by Col. Stacy ; I invite the attention 


__ of my Calcutta brother-members to this curiosity, which has no doubt 
originally formed part of a similar work to those described. 


By the foregoing it will be seen that from these sculptures we learn 


} the peculiar style of architecture prevalent in the country two thousand 
4 five hundred years ago, at least of religious buildings, and from the 
_ Bhilsa sculptures we find that of fortifications. 


We next see that the leading objects of worship were the Chaitya 


¢ _ and the B6 tree, of which so much mention is made in the early Budhist 
works. 


2¥ 2 


336 Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyah, [APRIL, 


Again we find that the implements of warfare were bows and arrows, 
spears, double-edged swords, precisely the shape of those still common 
in the Curjats or petty states of Orissa, called ‘‘ Khandas,” and that 
stones were hurled from the walls of their strongholds. 

From the Bodh Gyah sculptures we find that all the scenes are laid 
amongst the rocks; that such were the most favorite localities we have 
ample proof from most of the known sites in Behar, and of Western 
India, Cuttack and Ceylon, and the very remote antiquity of the prac- 
tice is again confirmed by Herodotus and by holy scripture itself, as 
relates to Western Asia and Hgypt, from which it may possibly have 
been borrowed. 

The sculptures of Cuttack and Gyah represent the same style of dress 
and of coiffure, the men wearing a short, the women a long Dhotee, the 
upper part of the body remaining bare in both, with few exceptions ; 
the hair of the men wound up in a knot on the crown, and that of the 
women both on, and behind, the head. The ears of either sex having 
extended lobes from the apparent weight of the great rings and knobs 
in them similar to those worn by the Kanphutta sects of monks (votaries 
of Siva) in the present day, and I should observe that the costumes 
above described closely resemble those still worn by the Kunds and 
Boomiahs of the Orissa mountains, the Chotya Nagpore districts, the 
head-dress in particular ; the broad necklaces and anklets are an equally 
prominent feature. 

In the description of preparations for the great convocation in Magda 
after the death of Sakya, mention is made of the nature of the orna- 
ments, amongst which were representations of festoons of flowers, &e. ; 
now this ornament is of repeated occurrence in the sculptures I am 
treating of ; garlands are represented as suspended from the Chutturs and 
the Bé tree, and from poles both on and beside the Topes or Chaityas ; 
angels are seen flying with them over the object of worship; and from 
the fragments at Gyah and Barabar, it would seem that this was always 
a favorite ornament; here then again we have the correctness of a de- 
scription contained in one of the most ancient writings extant, confirmed. 

Of all the subjects, that of the hand issuing from a rock or a cloud, 
and holding apparently a flame of fire, which is again surrounded by 
other flames, with a concourse of people in the act of worship, is the 
most curious and interesting; it will, I think, explain the allusion to 


1847.] Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyah. 337 


* Aguni,” in the pillar inscriptions which Prinsep could not account for, 
therefore considered the passage doubtful. 

The next which occurs on the same stone is a young male figure in a 
chariot drawn by four horses and attended by two amazons with bows 
and arrows, which [ take to be meant for ‘‘ Surya” or ‘‘ Mythra,” the 
Sun, whose emblem is oft repeated in the shape of the chakra or wheel. 
This again explains another doubt in the same reading, as well as the 
emblems on the early coins. 


A third sculpture exhibits a temple with the Monogram (on an altar) 
so common in the coins, likewise surmounting the standards represented 


in the Bhilsa sculptures, cof which I think may be considered to repre- 


sent both the Budhist and Hindu Triad, as the tristil and the mystic 
syllable “aum” combined ; taking the figure as it stands, it forms the 
trisul, if separately, we have the } 4 and &, of which I consider it to be 
a combination, but if the second letter is objected to and | u be required, 
the | verticle line below the circle at once supplies it ; if again the y JL is 
preferred, we have it in the upper half thus W, and I think that I shall 
not be taxed with too great a stretch of imagination in offering this 
solution of the problem. 
_ Assuming the foregoing to be correct, I must beg permission to digress 
a little and offer a few words on this curious emblem to show its connec- 
tion with the present idol and worship of Jugannath, and the once famous 
Somnath ; first then let me invite the perusal of Patterson’s able paper 
on the Hindu religion, to be found in the 8th volume of the Asiatic 
Researches, under the head Juggannath ; he attempts to show, and I 
think successfully, the origin of the idols and worship of Juggannath ; 
he considers those wooden idols to be an ingenious personification of the 
triliteral and mystic word “aum”’ itself, held in reverence not only by 
the three great sects of Hindus, but (as I have shown) by the Buddhist 
hkewise. Mr. Patterson imagines that the device was to render the 
temple an object of worship for all sects, the surest method to draw a 
large revenue from pilgrims, he was led to this supposition from the 
similitude betwixt the written syllable & and the shape of the logs or idols 
which (it will be observed) still more closely resemble the 
symbol of these sculptures; supposing then these inferences 
to be correct, we come to the conclusion that the object of 


338 Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyah. [APRIL, 


worship at Juggannath was in fact the Supreme Being, ‘“ Jug-nath,” 
‘“‘ Lord of the universe,’’ in the sign triliteral syllable representing His 
three attributes “ aum.” 

That Somnath, the great pagod of Western India, was dedicated 
also to the Supreme Lord of the creation under the same symbol Aum, 
I think there can be no doubt ; both temples are alike situated on the 
border of the ocean, where mortals at a glance could see the three 
great elements themselves, viz., the Heavens, the Earth, and the Waters 
the mightiest works of the Creator. 

The word Somnath may be composed of two syllables, Som and 
Nath, the latter meaning Lord, the former, either a way of expressing 
Sriin the dialect of the gulf or of an abbreviation of the words Sri 
and Aum, or thus Sri—Aum—Nath. The mighty Aum, the Lord, 
which latter I consider to be the most probable ; the first conjecture 
merely arising from the fact of “ Som”’ being an affix to other names in 
that part of India, such as Som Meanee for instance, and others I cannot 
at this moment call to mind. I am nevertheless aware that Som was a 
name for the moon, also an emblem of Siva. 

I believe Juggannath to be of comparatively modern date ; the present 
temple is more recent than that to the Sun at Kanarac commonly called 
the black pagoda, and neither are above 600 years old. I think it there- 
fore not improbable when Somnath was destroyed Juggannath was esta- 
blished on the opposite coast in a remote spot less likely (as it has 
proved) to be molested by the Moslem usurpers of India’s thrones. 

I have suggested that the objects represented in the Gyah sculptures 
point to Egyptian origin ; perusal of Mr. Patterson’s treatise above quot- 
ed will show that the idea that India borrowed her mythology from 
Egypt is not novel. Capt. Burr, in his Journal of the Campaign in 
Egypt in the same volume has thrown out hints on the subject ; nor are 
these gentlemen the only persons who have brought forward strong argu- 
ments in favor of the supposition, 1 therefore invite particular attention 
to this point and to the drawings,* in which will be found the figure of 
a female with the head of a horse or an ass, another of a goat on a 
pedestal or altar,—the water jars, the three figures, two female and one 
male. The Lotus oft repeated, and again the couple caressing each other, 
beside whom water jars are placed. ‘The centaurs or minataurs, the 


* JT hope to be able ere long to supply copies of these drawings to the Society, 


une ee 
ae eS : 5 


a 


—————E—_——e_-_-- -- ese - 


1847. | Note on the Sculptures of Bodh Gyah. 339 


winged oxen and horses, and the sphynxes, all are objects at once 
curious and instructive, for which reason [ have taken the drawings I 
have now the pleasure to lay before you. 

As I am always asked by those who have been at Bodh Gyah, where 
these curiosities are to be seen, I will explain for the guidance of future 
traveliers—first then, to the right hand facing the great tower within 
the quadrangle, is a miserable modern built mut or temple, containing 
five Budha images shown to the visitors under the name of the Panch 
Pandus ; beside this is another with a kind of porch supported by eight 
or nine flat octagonal pillars; on these many of the sculptures are to be 


seen, also the sentence 4 [ +] A ‘Cav? eme gift to Gyah of Ajaya 


the? ‘The meaning of the word + | I cannot make out ; it may be 


Kurd, and if so, it will read ‘‘ of the invincible Kiri ;’’ there are other 


_ fragments built into the ceiling of the little temple in the centre of the 


square, also in the great temple itself; further sculptures of the same 
kind are to be seen in the colonade of the Mahunt’s mut or monastery, 
where there are five more octagons and one square pillar of the same sort, 
on which latter the most curious subjects are found. There are a num- 
ber of other pillars there, of the same shape and dimensions, but of 
a different material (granite), date and style of sculpture, the most 


interesting specimens of which are here represented, tinted blue in con- 


tradistinction to the others, which are of a redish yellow hue.* 

_ [have been unable to find any of the eliptical connecting bars, but 
several portions of the upper rail or capping are to be seen; many 
stones have been carried away, others are built into the walls of the 
mut and many still lie buried beneath the rubbish behind the great 
temple, where the rest were found. 

There are many idols and fragments of former buildings well worth 
drawing, and I hope I shall be some day enabled to add them to the 
large collection I already possess and to offer a few remarks on them, 
my present notice was intended to apply only to the more ancient 
Budha sculptures ; I shall now therefore take leave of my readers, on 
whose patience I must have already trespassed too long. 


* This refers to the admirable drawings exhibited at the meeting, and on the 
occasion of Capt. Kittoe’s interesting lecture on the Buddhist antiquities of Gyah. 


—Eps, 


340 The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. [APRIL, 


The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon, by Witt1amM Kwicuton, £sq. 
author of the “ History of Ceylon,’ and late Secretary to the 
Ceylon Branch, Royal Asiatic Society. 


The large mass of rock which goes by the name of Damboolla-galla, 
is situated about forty-five miles to the north of Kandy. It is of pri- 
mitive formation, being chiefly composed of gneiss and mica-schist, and 
is in many places rapidly advancing to disintegration. There can be 
little doubt that it has either been elevated to its present position by 
successive upheavings of its mass, or that by the action of the sea when 
it was at the surface of it, or on a level with its bed, the surrounding 
earth had been washed away, leaving its naked mass prominently and 
permanently elevated. 

At the village situated at its base, four lines of roads, or more properly 
traces, diverge in various directions. One running in a north-westerly 
direction through Anuradhapura to Aripo and Manaar, another in a 
north-easterly course to Trincomale, a third in a southerly direction to 
Kandy, and a fourth south-westerly throngh Kurneyalle to Ambapusse, 
where it meets the great road from Colombo to Kandy. To this cir- 
cumstance, and to the existence of a tappal-station there, the village 
owes its origin, and as the traffic on these various lines of roads increases, 
there can be little doubt the village will increase likewise. A large and 
commodious rest-house is already in existence, and requires but a greater 
number of visitors to become much more comfortable than at present. 

The accompanying rough and badly executed sketch, may give some 
idea of the appearance which the rock presents on its northern side as 
seen from the verandah of the rest-house. Somewhat of the shape of 
the hinder part of a gigantic human skull, it raises itself bare and 
naked, unvariegated over a very considerable extent, by a vestige of — 
vegetation. To the south it spreads out into a less elevated and naked, 
but more extended mass, affording an easy access to that part hollowed 
out by religious zeal or fanatical enthusiasm into cave temples. Imme- 
diately above those temples the rock rises in a perpendicular mass, 
probably to a height of one hundred feet more, and affords by means 
of adisjected ledge, a dangerous and fearful road to the highest summit. 
The excitement of climbing blinds one at first to the difficulties of 


“TOOEWYG 40 SAIdW3y BAY) BH 


WS 
S 
~~ 


, a af mali 
Rite Gach ie 


1847.] The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. 341 


this expedition, and it is-not till he turns to descend that he becomes 
fully sensible of his danger. Arrived at the summit, a height of about 
five hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding plain, a wide and 
interesting view of the level country beneath repays the adventurer for 
his toil. In the east, rising in the distance to a considerable height, 
will be seen the rock Seeqiri (pronounced Heegqiri by the natives) to 
which Kassapo, the son of Datusens, fled to fortify himself against his 
brother, after he had murdered his father and usurped the kingdom, 
A. D. 477. The hill called Dahiakande, near the rock last mentioned, 
points out the position of the fort of Vigittapoora, visited and described 
by Major Forbes and Mr. Turnour, and memorable for its seige by 
Gaimono the first, in the second century before Christ. To the south 
may be faintly distinguished the outlines of some of the Kandy hills, 
whilst to the north a wide and level plain extends itself, bounded by the 
rocks of Miwara Kalawia. 

On the summit I saw the remains of an edifice which formerly existed 
there, consisting of stones and bricks, and on examining the vicinity 
for some other indications of human labour, I found a hole cut in the 
rock, one foot square and about a foot anda half deep, into which I 
imagine the beam or pillar on which the building rested had been in- 
serted. 

The entrance to the caves is as I have said, about one hundred feet 
below the level of the highest summit of the rock, and at the distance 
of about a mile from the village to which the rock gives its name. A 
rough tiled building, built principally of wood, affords a passage to the 
more immediate precincts of the caves, and on entering this the visitor 
finds himself standing on a ledge of rock covered with a slight coating 
of mould, out of which a few cocoanut trees and many shrubs glean a 
scanty supply of nutriment. To the right rises the perpendicular 
mass of the rock, which to a height of about thirty feet, has been exca- 
vated, partly by human labour and partly by nature, a wall being built 
up in front of the caves, which reaches to the overhanging mass of rock 
above. To the left the hill descends very steeply, covered with herbage 
of various kinds, amidst which hundreds of monkeys disport themselves, 
secure from the violence of man in a scene hallowed by the temples 
and images of the bloodless prophet of Maghada. The ledge of rock, 
covered with a slight mould on its eastern side, on which I am now 

22 


342 The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. [APRIL, 


supposing the visitor to be standing, runs in front of all the caves, a 
distance of about five hundred feet, varying much in breadth, but gra- 
dually becoming narrower towards the western side, where are situated 
the two aluth or new caves. In front of all the temples a narrow 
verandah extends, which projects from their front wall, and above which 
may be seen the marks of the wedges used in excavating them. 

I have said that the rock temples of Dambool are partly natural and 
partly artificial. So long ago as one hundred years before our era, 
they had served as a refuge to a Ceylonese monarch when escaping 
from the Malabars, who had invaded his kingdom, and in gratitude for 
his deliverance and for the shelter they had afforded him, Walagambahu 
piously increased the caves to a much larger dimension, placed in them 
images of Budha, appointed priests to take charge of them, and dedi- 
cated certain lands for their support, The invasion of the kingdom 
by the natives of the continental coast, the flight of the monarch, and 
his subsequent success, are thus related in the Rajavali.* ‘After his 
(the previous king’s) death, Walagambahu Rajah succeeded to the 
throne. When he had reigned five months, seven Malabar chiefs with 
seven thousand men from Sollee, made a descent on Ceylon, and drove 
Walagambahu from the throne, and one of the Malabars taking the 
king’s wife, went away with her. Another of them seized the patrya 
cup of Budha, and likewise went away. The other five Malabar chiefs 
remained, and succeeding one another in the government, reigned as 
kings for the space of thirty years.” (The Mahawanso, with more proba- 
bility, computes their reigns at fourteen years in all) ; ‘ about the expira- — 
tion of which time the king, Malagambahu, who had been living amongst 
the rocks in the wilderness, left his solitude, raised an army, and attack- 
ing the city of Anuradhapura, destroyed the Malabars, again ascended 
the throne, and caused the houses of stone or caves of the rock in 
which he had taken refuge in the wilderness to be made more commo- 
dious.” In the Mahawanso, as translated by Mr. Upham, the caves of 
Dambool are particularly mentioned as having been constructed by 
Walagambahu, although in Mr. Turnour’s version, which is generally 
so much fuller, strange to say, this notice is altogether omitted. 

The next notice which Ceylonese history affords us of these caves, 
is in the account of the reign of Kirti Nissanga, A. D. 1187 to 1196. 


* Part 3, p. 223, in Mr, Upham’s translation. 


1847.]. The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. 343 


The Rajavali,* after informing us that that prince went, with many 
followers, to Adam’s peak, and worshipped there the print of Buddha’s 
foot, adds that “in order to perpetuate his name in Ceylon, he caused 
the dagobah at Dambool to be built, and having gone there, caused to 
be made 72,000 figures of Buddha, and the said place he called by the 
names Rathinda and Boolhinda.”’ 

The word thousand, in the above extract, is probably an embellish- 
ment of the historian’s own, seventy-two alone being mentioned in the 
incription on the rock, which records that monarch’s benefactions, and 
of which we shall now speak particularly. 

The visitor has been supposed to stand on the ledge of rock imme- 
diately in front of the caves, after having passed the rough building 
which serves as an entrance. So situated, the first object which presents 
itself to him is this inscription on his right hand, deeply graven in the 
rock in the old Cinghalese character, differing but little from the cha- 
racter now used. The inscription itself occupies a space about six feet 
broad, and four in height. It commences by describing in the usual 
eastern style the monarch whose actions it records, Kriti Nissanga. He 
is stated in it to be “an invincible warrior,” to be endowed with 
“might, majesty and wisdom,” and to be “like the placid moon, 
radiant, with cheering and benignant qualities.’ These necessary preli- 
minaries being ended, it proceeds to inform us that his subjects having 
been impoverished by inordinate taxes, he enriched them by relinquish- 
ing his revenue for five years, and by granting to them lands and 
cattle. It then asserts that besides all this, he rendered all those who 
cultivated jungle, and thus increased the quantity of cleared land, 
exempt from all taxation for a considerable period—a provision strik- 
ingly wise and excellent. The remainder of it, as bemg less tedious 
and redundant, I shall quote entire. ‘ He (Nissanga) also made it a 
rule that when permanent grants of land may be made to those who 
had performed meritorious services, such behests should not be evane- 
scent, like lines drawn upon water, by being inscribed on leaves, a 
material subject to be destroyed by rats and white ants, but that such 
patents should be engraved on plates of copper so as to endure long 


unto their respective posterities. 
“Thrice did he make the circuit of the island, and having visited the 


* Part 4, p. 255. 
PR le 2 


344 The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. (APRIL, 


villages, the towns, and the cities, and having explored the places diffi- 
cult of access, the fastnesses surrounded with water, the strongholds 
in the midst of forests, and those upon steep hills, he had as precise a 
view of the whole as if it was an amlaca (a kind of prism) on the 
palm of his hand, and such was the security he established, as well in 
the wilderness, as in the inhabited places, that even a woman might 
traverse the country with a precious jewel, and not be asked, what is it? 
When he had thus ensured safety in the island, he longed to engage 
in war, and twice dismayed the kings of Paandi,* and having accepted 
the royal maidens, and also the elephants and horses, with other tributes 
of homage which they sent him, he formed friendly alliances with such 
of the princes of Choda, of Gowda, and of many other countries as 
duly appreciated his good will, but by his personal valour struck terror 
into those who esteemed not his friendship ; and he caused princesses 
to be brought to him from each of those countries, with other tributes 
of homage, and as then there remained no hostile kings throughout 
Dambadiva to wage war against him, he tarried at Rammisseram, where 
he made donations of balanced weights, consisting of valuables, and 
thus enriched the poor and satisfied the needy. He then caused obe- 
lisks of victory formed of stone to be set up as lasting monuments, and 
having built a devale consisting of five divisions, departed thence with 
his army, composed of four regular bodies, and returned to Ceylon. 
Then reflecting that albeit he had no enemies here, he might possibly 
encounter enemies hereafter, he caused alms-houses to be erected in 
many places in Dambadiva, as well as in this island, and caused alms 
to be distributed constantly. He also caused gardens and fields to be 
cultivated and dwellings for priests to be formed upon the hill Ranko- 
hokalooheene, wherein is situated the cave of Dambula Sena. 

«Having a perfect knowledge of the doctrines of Buddha, he pro- 
moted the cause of religion, and also the interests of science ; he restored 
the ruimed fanes, and the roads which were destroyed in consequence of 
the calamities which had befallen the land, during former reigns, and 
rebuilt the wihares in the city of Anuradhapura, in Kelania, Mewoo- 
yone and many other places; he expended vast riches, and within this 
wihare he caused to be made seventy-two statues of Buddhu, in the 
recumbent, the sitting, and the standing posture, and having caused 


* An ancient kingdom on the Coromandel coast. Its capital was Madura. 


1847. ] The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. 345 


them to be gilt, celebrated a great puja at the cost of seven lakhs of 
money, and as is thus recorded upon this stone, gave to this cave the 
name of Swarna Giriguhaaya,” (i. e. the cave of the golden mountain.) 

Such are the contents of the lengthened inscription which prominently 
strikes the eye of the observer on first advancing to the caves of Dam- 
bool, and the picture which it gives us of the government of Ceylon in 
the twelfth century is far from contemptible. The caves themselves 
are five in number—the first three stretching from east to west, are the 
older, and the more laboured structures, the remaining two, forming an 
obtuse angle with the others, being much more recent and comparatively 
insignificant. The excavations are separated from each other partly 
by remaining portions of the rock, and partly by artificial walls, and 
they stretch into the heart of the mountain to various distances from 
fifteen to one hundred and thirty feet. The ground plan of them which 
I annex will perhaps give a better idea of their relative positions than 
a mere description. 

In height they vary from ten to thitty feet, being generally more 
lofty at the entrance, and gradually decreasing in height as they advance 
into the rock. The cave usually called the first, as being the first the 
visitor reaches, is also the most easterly, and is but a few yards distant 
from the inscription just treated of. It is called the Maha-Deva-Devale; 
(the temple of the great god,) the title not referring to Buddhu, of 
whom there is a gigantic colossal statue in the cave, but to Vishnu, a 
statue of that deity also placed in it being considered of superior sanctity. 
On entering the Maha-Deva-Devale, the visitor at first sees but little 
difference between it and the interior of the other wihares scattered in 
such profusion over our island. It is not till his attention is directed 
to the fact that the gigantic recumbent image before him is a portion 
of the rock around that he becomes sensible of the peculiar nature of 
the cavity in which he stands. The figure of Buddha is forty-seven 
feet long, his head rests in the usual manner on his right hand, the 
right arm being bent beside him, the hand again rests on a pillow, in 
which is apparent the impression supposed to be made by the weight of 
his head and arm—the whole being cut out of the solid rock around, 
together with the bed on which he lies. Being rather doubtful of this 
fact of which the priest had just informed me, and being anxious to be 
certain about the matter, ina moment of thoughtlessness, I knocked 


346 The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. [APRIL, 


pretty sharply the massive elbow beside me to test its truth, when 
the priest raised a cry of horror at my temerity; and seizing my arm, 
would have put me from the sacred edifice ; I, of course at once apolo- 
gized for my want of thought, as I was far from intending to wound his 
feelings,fand I soon found that a few rupees, added to my explanation, 
made matters perfectly satisfactory. 1 had the pleasure of assuring 
myself by my profanation, however, that the image actually is of stone, 
and that there is no deception about the matter. Besides these two 
statues—the colossal one of Buddha, and the smaller one of Vishnu, 
there are four others of the Maghadie prophet, of about the natural size, 
and of the kind so common in all the wihares of the island. 

Leaving the Maha-Deva-Devale, and proceeding to the westward, the 
visitor ascends a few steps, and finds himself in front of the Maha 
Wihare or Great Temple, by far the largest of the five. In front of 
the Maha Wihare, or as Major Forbes calls it, the Maha raja Wihare, 
the temple of the great king, and near the small wall that borders the 
steep side of the mountain, rises the Bo-tree, from beneath which a 
view of the exterior of the second, third, fourth and fifth caves may 
be obtained. The accompanying sketch, imperfect as it is, may afford 
some idea of their appearance. To the right the first temple stretches 
in a line with the second, but hid by intervening trees; and to the 
extreme left are seen the two smaller and more recently excavated caves, 
forming an angle with the others. The projecting meclosure to the 
left, of which two walls are seen, represents the tank, which it will be 
perceived is laid down in the ground plan. Immediately above both 
entrances to the Maha Wihare, marks of the wedges with which the 
rock was split are very apparent—evidences of the labour employed in 
the construction of the caves. 

On the massive doors and small windows of the Maha Wihare being 
opened, the visitor sees before him a large spacious apartment, the floor 
of which, that is, the rock beneath him, is quite level, whilst the roof 
gradually descends from the entrance to the further side, being twenty- 
one feet high near the front wall and only four at the opposite quarter. 
Immediately in front of him (supposing him standing at the door) he 
sees aline of statues representing Buddha, either in the standing or 
sitting posture—some plain, others ornamented with an arch like 
canopy surrounding his figure. On his right hand the same line conti- 


1847. | The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. 347 


nues uninterrupted, making a right angle with the former one, but on 
the left, where a similar line also extends, his view is intercepted by a 
well proportioned dagobah, the top of which touches the roof above. 
The sketch beneath may give some idea of its proportions. 

The Maha Wihare is upwards of one hundred and seventy feet long 
by seventy-five feet broad, and contains within its spacious dimensions 
forty-six images of the prophet god, none of them being smaller, and 
the majority much larger than life. Besides these, which stretch in 
the manner described round the cave forming three sides of a parallel- 
ogram, there are also statues of Walagambohu and Kirti Nissanga, the 
two great benefactors to the caves—the former the excavator of the 
first and second caves (the Maha-Deva-Devale and the Maha Wihare), 
the latter the embellisher of the “great temple,” and the excavator 
of the third. Kirti Nissanga appears also to have been the restorer 
of the first two caves to their original condition after they had been 
pillaged and defaced by the Malabars. In one corner of the Maha 
Wihare there is a depression in the floor of the cave, about two feet 
deep, into which water is continually dropping from the rock above. 
This water is considered sacred, and is used only for sacred purposes. 
A few young cocoanut trees in jars are placed around it, which present 
a yellowish, sickly appearance from the want of light. 

One can hardly walk through the spacious cavity of the Maha Wahine 
without feeling involuntary awe at his situation. The great size of the 
cave itself, the strange echoing of his footsteps, number of gloomy and 
_ shadowy statues with which he is surrounded, the gentle dropping of 
the water in the distant corner, the noiseless tread of the yellow-robed 
priest who attends him, with the death-like stillness that pervades 
all around, are calculated to impress upon him a kind of religious or 
superstitious awe of which he may in vain endeavour to divest himself. 

The entire of the roof of the Maha Wihare is covered with cloth, on 
which are represented countless images of Buddhu with a few attempts 
at historical paintiug. The latter I consider much poorer than Major 
Forbes’ description* led me to expect. I could not perceive any 
superiority in them to the various Ceylonese paintings I have seen in 
other parts of the island. In painting, the ancient Ceylonese seem to 
have been very imperfect, and although we occasionally find a correct 


* Vol. I. page 371. 


348 The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. [ApRIL, 


outline or a well proportioned figure, we seldom see a group represented 
without some absurdities that violate all our notions of congruity. 
I had formerly considered the Ceylonese attempts at painting as about 
equal to their musical performances, and I saw nothing at Dambool to 
make me alter my opinion. We see there kings praying at the Ruan- 
welle dagobah in Anuradhapura, (which was originally 270 feet high, 
and stood ona square mass of building 2000 feet in circumference,) 
whose bodies are represented as béing larger than the dagobah itself, 
and. whose towering crests overtop the building before which they bow. 
Again, in an attempt to delineate the landing of Wijeya, we havea 
ship sailing on an ocean filled with fish as large and larger than the 
vessel itself, and into whose enormous mouths, had the animals but 
held them open, the luckless adventurer with all his crew might have 
passed unwittingly until he should find out the difference between a 
fish’s stomach, and the throne which he doubtless dreamt of in Ceylon. 
Nor is the attempt to delimeate the combat between Dutu-Gaimono 
and Ellala, the Malabar invader, which occurred in the second century 
before Christ, much more successful as a work of art—the dart which 
the usurper hurls at his aspiring adversary being in proportion to the 
monarch’s body what the maintop-mast of a vessel of 500 tons would 
be to one of us. Butif these paintings are ridiculous in an artistic 
point of view, they are, on the other hand, extremely valuable as con- 
firmations of the ancient history of Ceylon. If such an mvader as 
Wijeya never landed on its shores, whence came the record of his 
expedition contained in the Mahawanso, the Poojavalli, the Neeka- 
sanga, the Raja Ratnacari, and the Rajavali, or if these be all fictitious 
whence came the paintings on the rock of Dambool, with the tradition 
connecting the name of Wijeya with it. And so of all the rest. Yet 
though the proofs of the truth of that history are scattered all around 
us in the island, more especially in the region round Dambool and 
Anuradhapura, there are those in the island itself who laugh at these 
tales, ‘‘as old wives’ fables,” and there are pretended savans in 
England who would reject them also, because they never heard of them 
before, and therefore will not take the trouble to investigate them. 

On leaving the Maha Wihare the visitor finds little in the three 
remaining caves to excite his wonder or admiration. They are so 
inferior in size, and in the execution of the works of art which they 


1847. ] The rock temples of Dambool, Ceylon. 349 


contain, as to excite little but contempt for them after having seen the 
great one. They may be taken as emblematic of the power of the 
various monarch¢ who formed them, and of the state of Ceylon at the 
period of their excavation—the second formed about 100 B. C. infinitely 
superior to the third, which was excavated in the twelfth century 
after our era; the third surpassing the fourth, which was constructed in 
1750, and the fourth surpassing the fifth, which is still more recent, 
I shall therefore content myself with mentioning their contents, leaving 
the rest to your imagination. 

The third is styled the passpi/ame or western wihare, and contains in 
addition to fifty images of Buddha of all sizes, a statue of Kirti Sree 
Rajah, who reigned about the middle of the last century—the last 
Ceylonese sovereign by whose exertions the caves of Dambool were 
embellished or enlarged. Although there is a greater number of 
figures in this cave than in any other, yet from its small size in com- 
parison with the second, they do not produce any remarkable effect. 
The passpilame wihare is seventy-eight feet long, and varies in breadth 


from thirty to sixty feet. The fourth and fifth caves are called the 


ahs 


oe ee ae 


— 


eo 


: 


once placed by the natives of Ceylon in the faith of the prophet of 


altith or new wihares, in reference to their age, being, as I have before 
remarked, much more recent than any of the others. The fourth was 
constructed by the monarch last named, Kirti Sree; the fifth by a 
Kandian noble in the latter part of the last century. The first of these 
is forty-two feet long by thirty broad, and projects about fifteen feet in 
front of those formerly mentioned ; it contains ten images of Buddha. 
The last is also about forty feet long by twenty broad, and contains 
a gigantic image of Buddha in the reclining posture, nearly twelve yards 


- long. Besides this there are in the same cave eleven other statues of 


smaller dimensions. 

Such are the five cave-temples of Dambool, lasting monuments of 
mistaken zeal and wasted labour—evidences of the religious devotion 
of those who excavated them, and evidences also of the implicit reliance 


Maghada; but that faith is now on the wane—nay, its light is nearly 


extinguished, and but a solitary pilgrim or a prying antiquarian is 


now found to resort to those temples where thousands formerly wor- 


shipped and where kings once prostrated themselves. 


It may not be out of place if I add to these notes that about twelve 


2 
oA 


350 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. (APRIL, 


miles from Dambool, on the road to Anuradhapura, or rather to the 
eastern side of the road, I accidentaly met the ruins of an ancient 
native road, which tradition asserts once united Poflonnaruwa with a 
dagobah in the vicinity. A bridge of massive granite over a rivulet, 
now dry, first attracted my attention. It was composed of upright 
blocks of granite about eight feet long, supporting other horizontal 
blocks about four feet broad, seven feet long and a foot thick. On 
each side of this bridge the road might be traced for a considerable 
distance by its elevation above the plain around. The new road to 
Anuradhapura cuts through it, and on each side it presents of course 
merely the appearance of an ordinary mound of earth. 


Some es ther Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep, by Ep. aaa 
Curator of the Asiatic Society, §c. $e. 


““No great while ago,” writes Mr. Hodgson, (J. 4. S. XV, 342,) 
“only two or three species of wild Sheep were recognised by men of 
science. But Mr. Blyth has, all at once, produced a splendid cornuco- 
pla -of species, founding many of them, however, upon an inspection 
of the horns solely. I question the possibility of so establishing spe- 
cies or genera in this group; and, as a proof of the necessity of 
examining carefully the entire structure of the animals, I need merely 
refer to Mr. Blyth’s signal error, already adverted to, in reference to 
the organization of Capra or the domestic Goat, and to an oversight 
equally important to be mentioned presently.” 

The “signal error” adverted to has not, however, been yet set right 
by Mr. Hodgson. It is true that I did follow my predecessors in 
stating that the Goats are devoid of the suborbital and interdigital 
pores which occur in the Sheep; and I have since stated (in XV, 154,) 
that the absence of the interdigital sinus affords an easy method of 
distinguishing a leg of goat mutton from one of mouton proprement dit. 
But Mr. Hodgson states (XV, 337), that “Goats have interdigital, 
though not lachrymary, pores; and consequently Mr. Blyth’s suggested 
genus Ammotragus is based on misconception, though accidentally true 
to nature, at least in my view of her, and without reference to systems, 


1847. | Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 351 


But, however falsely used heretofore,’ &c. &c. Now I had several 
times even pointed out, to different friends, who have accompanied me 
to the Calcutta bazar, how to distinguish legs of Sheep mutton from 
legs of Goat mutton, by the invariable token here alluded to; and 
I therefore felt some surprise at Mr. Hodgson’s assertion: but as he 
recommends me to ‘look at nature, instead of books,” and as some 
tame Goats were immediately at hand, I of course had them caught 
and examined them; when I found that they do possess interdigital 
pores on the fore-feet only——not on the hind-feet,—a piece of informa- 
tion which I infer to be as new to Mr. Hodgson as the existence of 
pores on the fore-feet proved to myself. But I say nothing about an 
“important oversight,” on his part, in having (when once about it) 
overlooked the circumstance of the non-existence of interdigital pores 
on the hind-feet of the common Goat : but will merely remark on the 
probability that Ammotragus was not so ‘ misdiscrimmated by Mr. 
Blyth,” after all, but that it will be found to differ from the Goats in 
having, like other Sheep, interdigital orifices on all four legs. 

We next come to my “oversight equally important,” in the fact of 
my not having mentioned that O. burrhel was deficient in the subor- 
bital sinuses, any more than Mr. Hodgson mentioned the same defi- 
ciency in O. nahoor, in his elaborate and latest description of the latter 
species, published in X. 231! To be sure, Mr. Hodgson alludes to my 
being “a professed naturalist :” but*at the time I drew up the ‘ Mono- 
graph of the species of wild Sheep,’ I was surely, in every respect, quite 
as much an amateur in the matter as himself, either then or now, and 
was very considerably his junior in such investigations. The different 
new species described in that paper are, indeed, the first novelties in 
the class of mammalia which I ever published !* Nevertheless, I can- 
not think of admitting the implied distinction between an amateur 
naturalist and a “ professed’ one. Whoever undertakes to describe new 
species of organized beings, by so doing professes himself a naturalist ; 


* And, therefore, I maintain that the somewhat harsh (not to say captious) tone of 
Mr. Hodgson’s remarks on this labour of mine is altogether uncalled for, under the 
circumstances. Can Mr, H. cite a paper of his own which shows, on the face of it, 
anything approaching to the same amount of research amongst the labours of his 
predecessors? Or one that could have cost himself more labour in other respects? Or 
that has added more to the previous knowledge of the subject ? 


iw 


352 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. [APRIL, 


and credit will of course be given him for having duly studied the 
writings of his predecessors, or he is unqualified for the task, and 
should be content to borrow the assistance of those who do profess to 
have done so. 

But I am pleased to see that Mr. Hodgson now admits my Ovis 
burrhel, as a good species: because, not very long ago (in XI, 283), 
he stated, positively, that “ Mr. Blyth’s Ovis burrhel is no other than 
my néhdor. Mr. Blyth’s” (¢. e. the Zoological Society’s) ‘ specimen of 
which was dyed brown by a preservative lotion that was applied by the 
killer and curer of it, Lieutenant Smith, 15th Native Infantry !!’ 
(Vide also note.) Captain Smith has lately favored me with sundry 
items of information respecting Himalayan mammalia; comprising a 
notice of O. burrhel, nobis, as distinct from O. ndéhdor, which I shall 
presently have occasion to cite. 

In the course of a note which I appended to Mr. Hodgson’s above 
quoted remark on my O. burrhel, I took occasion to observe (XI, 
284, and there is another reminder in XV, 153), that ‘ With respect to 
O. ammonoides, Hodgson, it will be remembered that I had dedicated 
this animal to Mr. Hodgson himself, terming it Hodgsonu, some time 
before the publication of the name ammonoides,” ¢. e. mn the * Proceedings 
of the Zoological Society’ for July 1840, whereas Mr. Hodgson’s paper 
descriptive of O. ammonoides, and published in the Society’s Journal 
for 1841, p. 230, bears his own dafe of March for that year. I cannot, 
therefore, understand upon what principle Mr. Hodgson adheres to 
the latter appellation; and the more especially as he is known to be 
particularly tenacious of his own nomenclature.* : 


* On the same occasion, I pointed out that Captain Hutton’s Ovis cycloceros had been 
priorly named by me O. Vignei: and Captain Hutton, accordingly, adopts the latter 
name in preference to that of his own coining, in XV, 152. Nor-is the above the only 
instance of the kind I have reason to complain of, on the part of Mr. Hodgson, who 
must show a little more respect for the claims of others if he expects his own to be up- 
held. For example, some time ago Mr. Hodgson will remember sending me a bird by 
the name Chelidorhynx chrysoschistos, which I informed him that I already had in print, 
by the name Rhipidura hypoxantha, XII, 935: and in correcting the proof, I inserted an 
acknowledgment of the receipt of Mr. Hodgson’s specimen (in the following page), 
adding that I then adopted his genus Chelidorhyne ; which, however, has since proved 
to be true Rhipidura, as opposed to Leucocerca, Swainson (vide XV, 290). Yet Mr. 
Hodgson had no compunction in publishing his Chelidorhyna chrysoschistos as a new 
species in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1845, p. 32; and at p. 26 he 


1847. | Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 353 


And I must further take the liberty of recalling Mr. Hodgson’s 
remarks (in X, 915), concerning a critique on his own labours. “It 


> 


is well known,” writes Mr. Hodgson, “ that when Mr. Ogilby wrote, 
several successive catalogues of mine, embodying the improving results 
of new information, and greater skill in the appreciation of it, existed , 
and had Mr. Ogilby consulted the whole of them, according to their 
dates, he might have spared a great part of his cursorious remarks.” 
Thus, with regard to tame Sheep with naturally short tails, Mr. Hodg- 
son will find, in XV, 153, my prmted statement that-—‘ The fighting 
rams of India seem to me to be of a race descended from Ovis Vignei, 
of which they preserve the crescent horns and short tad: and in the 
following page,—‘‘ Whether any long-tailed Sheep, with horns describ- 
ing more than a spiral circle, could have descended from the crescent- 
horned and short-tailed O. musimon (which is closely allied to O. 
Vignei), is extremely doubtful.’ Mr. Hodgson might, therefore, to be 
consistent with himself, have qualified a little his remarks on this sub- 
ject (in XV, 343). 

We would now return to the paragraph which I commenced by quot- 
ing, and examine whether really 1 founded ‘ many species” of wild 
Sheep “upon an inspection of the horns solely :”’ but I will first remark 
that Mr. Hodgson has himself founded various species of mammalia 
upon what I consider much less satisfactory data than those afforded 
by the horns of different wild Sheep, which, in general, (as must be 
admitted by all who are acquainted with them,) supply exceedingly 
good specifical distinctions. 

Martes (?) tufeus, H. (XI, 281). “ Have several fine skins from 
Lassa and Seling, dut as they want the teeth and talons and tail, 1 
can but conjecture from information and the specimens as they are, 
that the animal is a Marten. Thus judging, I should say that the 
Toufee has much of the size and proportions of the last or flavigula, 
but its pelage is much richer and softer. * * * Probable length from 
snout to vent 20 to 22 inches, mean height 7,” &c. Now there isa 
Tibetan Marten which I have lately had occasion to describe, which 
I feel very confident to be this M. tufeus : but its size does not exceed 
that of the two European Martens (to which it is very nearly allied), 


gives, as another new species, Dimorpha? rubrocyana, H., which I likewise distinctly 
informed him was my Muscicapulu hyperythra (vide p. 127, ante)!!! 


354 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. [APRIL 


being considerably smaller than flavigu/a ; and I infer, therefore, that 
the dimensions above given are those of exceedingly stretched skins. 

** Mustela (?) calotus, WH.” (Calcutta Journal of Natural History, 
TI, 221, and pl. 1X; a figure which J, for one, would certainly never 
have ventured upon publishing). [I can give no opinion of my own re- 
specting this animal; but in Mr. J. EK. Gray’s ‘ List of Specimens of the 
Mammalia in the British Museum,’ (p. 139,) I see “ Mustela calotus, 
Hodgson,”’ placed as a synonyme of Sciurus europeus ! ! !* 

In XI, 286, two Tibetan animals are enumerated as—< 39. Equus, 
wild; H, kiang, Moorcroft ;+ #. hemione’’ (queere hemionus 7), “ Auct ? 
Found generally throughout Tibet. I have no specimen.’—* 40. 
Asinus equioides, mihi. Species want verification, spoken of by 
Moorcroft and others: called wild Ass by the Tibetans, and said to be 
common on the plains of Tibet. Possess no specimen.” Mr. Hodg- 
son, nevertheless, does not hesitate to give a name to the latter animal, 
which I am satisfied refers to E. hemionus, or the Kiang (vide XV, 
146); while the other is, I suspect, the same wild type of Hquus 
caballus as was described, and the foal figured, by Pallas. 


* Mr. Gray’s note of interrogation refers obviously to the work in which M., calotus 
is published, not to the identification of the animal. 

+ Vide Mooreroft’s Travels, I, 312,and 442, and other notices in the same work. E. B. 

t While this article was proceeding through the press, the 28th No. of the Calcutta 
Journal of Natural History came to hand, containing a paper by Mr. Hodgson, entitled 
“* Description of the Wild Ass and Wolf of Tibet,” in which he now states—“ There is, I 
believe, no species of wild Horse in Tibet, and only one species of wild Ass, viz., the 
Kiang:” and though fully aware that Moorcroft had named this animal Equus kiang, 
and that he had himself termed it Asinus equioides, it is now a third time wantonly 
named Asinus polyodon! The last name, too, being founded on the mistaken supposi- 
tion that the little premolar in front of the series of upper grinders in the Kiang is 
peculiar to that animal ; whereas (it is needless to remind the generality of Zoologists) 
this tooth is normally present in the Horse and Ass (!!), if not in every other species of 
the genus ; but is subject to be occasionally lost, when its socket becomes gradually 
filled up, and disappears totally. Referring to five skulls of Horses in the Society’s 
Museum, I find this tooth or its socket present in three of them, but lost and the socket 
completely atrophied upon one side of one of these three ; and in an Ass’s skullI find it 
on both sides, as in Mr. Hodgson’s figure of the series of upper molars of the Kiang : 
so much, then, for the name (or rather synonyme) polyodon ! With regard to Pallas’s 
assertion (as quoted by Pennant and Shaw), that the hemionus has only 38 teeth in all, 
or two fewer than in the Horse and Ass, it is difficult to imagine which are here meant 
as being deficient, in addition to the two little upper premolars ; and I confess to enter- 
taining doubts on the subject. The colour of the Kiang, I can safely assert to be ab- 


1847. | Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 355 


Mr. Hodgson’s subgenus Pseudo-cervus (X, 914, and XI, 284), 
refers, in my opinion, decidedly, to a young truly elaphine Stag (Cervus 
Wallichii, Duvaucel), of the third year; the horns of which had not 
attained the size and figure which they would have exhibited in the 
mature animal. It is most probably identical with the great truly 
elaphine Stag of Kashmir. So much for this alleged subgenus !* 

Indeed, Mr. Hodgson should be the very last person to complain of 
‘‘imnumerable vague and shadowy species” being ‘“‘the plague of 
Zoological science,’ (vide XV, 335,) inasmuch as he has burdened 
science with a frightful list of cumbersome and useless synonymes (vide 
for instance, those reduced in my papers on birds), based upon no dis- 
tinctive characters whatever. Witness his catalogue of Nepalese Mynahs, 
(V. 771:)+ and even when convinced of error, instead of hastening to 


solutely similar to that of several specimens which I have seen alive of Equus hemionus : 
the Society’s skin of the former is in summer garb ; and I have repeatedly witnessed, in 
England, the seasonal changes of the hemionus, which are just as Mr. Hodgson has 
described those of the Kiang. In fact, my opinion remains unchanged that the Kiang 
will prove, upon actual comparison, to be identical with Equus hemionus. 

Mr. Hodgson’s Lupus laniger is another familiar acquaintance, of which he might 
have seen three fine mounted skins, in different states of pelage, when he visited the 
Society’s Museum : but I cannot accede to his opinion that it has any claim to be re- 
garded as a peculiar species, after what I have seen of the variation of Wolves of dif- 
ferent countries, and even of the same country ; but I must reserve the discussion of this 
subject for a more convenient opportunity. 

Some remarks on the transverse shoulder-stripe incidental to the Asinine subgroup of 
Equus, will be found in a note to vol. XI, p. 286: since writing which, I have observed 
a domestic Ass with a second transverse stripe, and another with four (!) and not equi- 
distant cross-stripes, varying too in length, and the last crossing the loins. Buchanan 
Hamilton, I think, somewhere states that the Asses of Madras are sometimes without 
any cross-stripe: and finally, I may remark that those of Lower Bengal are very 
commonly more or less barred with black on the limbs, at all ages. That the supposed 
Equus asinus (ferus) of Prof. Gmelin was an individual variety of hemionus, with a 
small cross-stripe on the shoulders, I scarcely feel any doubt whatever. 

* Thave indeed been assured that Mr, Hodgson’s Cervus affinis, or great elaphine Stag 
of the Nepal sal forest (X, 721), was founded on a skull and horns purchased from a 
ship in the port of Calcutta by the Nepal Vakeel, Luckman Pardia, who presented it 
to the then prime minister of Nepal, Bim Sen, by whom it was presented to Mr. 
Hodgson. It certainly would appear that Mr. H. has never since been able to pro- 
cure another specimen. 

t “‘ We have seven species,” writes Mr. Hodgson, ‘‘ all abun lant in Nepal.—1, re- 
ligiosa.—2. cristelloides, (nob.)—3. Tristoides, (nob.)—4. sylvestris, (nob.)—5. Affinis, 
(nob. )}—6, Communis, (nob.)—7. Terriclov, (nob.)—And Mr, Hodgson has since 


356 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. [APRIL, 


relieve ow' catalogues of the incumbrance of fictitious species, Zoolo- 
gists have great reason to complain that he suffers the misleading 
synonymes of his own imposing to remain permanently uncorrected. 
Thus, when I privately informed Mr. Hodgson that his Astur indicus 


termed another—‘‘ Gregicolus, (nob.)”—In all seven new names (to pass over the ex- 
traordinary construction of some of them)! 

“ Of these,” it is added, *‘ 2 and 3 are nearly allied to cristatella and tristis ; 4 and 5 
to pagodarum and malabarica. The 6th inclines much to Sturnus ; and the 7th, a very 
osculant species, has a very considerable resemblance in the form of its wings, tail and 
legs, to Cinclosoma,” (indeed it has no sort of relationship with the Mynahs). 

Not one of these names has since been rectified, except by myself ; though referring 
to some of the commonest birds of the whole Bengal Presidency. Thus, Religiosa is 
the common Hill Mynah, so often caged, and now standing as Gracula affinis, A. Hay, 
(XV, 32.) Cristelloides is another species first distinguished by Lord Arthur Hay, (vide 
XV, 33,) from Acridotheres cristatellus,(L.), of China ; and it now stands as Acr. griseus, 
(Horstield) : though Dr, Horsfield was not justified in changing the name of his Java- 
nese bird to griseus, since he believed in its identity with the Chinese cristatellus. Tris- 
toides is the common House Mynah, Acr. tristis, (L.),so abundant throughout the country. 
Gregicolus is Acr. ginginianus, (L.), or the common Bank Mynah. Communis is Sturnus 
contra, Auct., now termed Stwrnopastor (contra) by Mr. Hodgson. Sylvestris is Sturnia 
pagodarum, (Gm.), v. melanocephala, (Bahl). Afinis is St. malabarica. And Terricolor 
is the ‘ Brown Indian Thrush’ of Edwards, first identified as such by myself, and also 
first distinguished by myself, (not by Mr. Hodgson, whose name I have nevertheless 
adopted, ) from the nearly allied Malacocercus striatus, Swainson, of Ceylon. 

Now, what benefit to science, it may well be asked, accrues from this random applica- 
tion ofa host of new names ; without so muchas a clue to the particular species they refer 
to? Or what skill is required in the manufacture of such names? It is true that they 
are not binding in the least, unless some kind of intelligible description, or distinctly re- 
cognisable figure, is attached to them ; but even in the latter case it is scarcely fair that 
those who first really discriminate species from their affines should be deprived of the 
right of naming them, because they had previously been described perhaps at random, 
without any trouble having been taken to determine whether they really were new—or 
perchance even familiarly known, as were most of Mr. Hodgson’s Mynahs just referred 
to. 

There is an old story that the most unskilful marksman may hit his object occasionally 
by flinging a handful of missiles at it together : and so by affixing new names to a mul- 
titude of species thus at random, and describing them at a venture, the merest tyro may 
chance to have his vanity gratified, sometimes, by seeing his name quoted as the de- 
scriber of an actual novelty, regardless of the number of synonymes to which also he 
finds his name attached, and of the confusion which he thus oftentimes introduces. 

It would be a beneficial rule if the merits of a describer of new species were to be 
estimated by the number of those which he sueceeds in establishing, minus or deduct- 
ed by that of the synonymes which he has applied to previously known species, or at least 
of such as remain uncorrected by him after a given period ; and the permanent establish-~ 


1847.) Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 357 


had been previously named Falco trivirgatus by Temminck, that gen- 
tleman replied that he had been long aware of it ; but he has certainly 
never given publicity to the information (as I hastened to do, in XI, 
5). As Mr. Hodgson has not scrupled to refer to my unpublished 
opinion (of which more presently), respecting dutilope gutturosa (XV, 
335), there can surely be no occasion for my refraining te publish what 
I have just stated of dAstur trivirgatus.* 

But enongh of this tu quoque style of aygument: though 4 little 
rebutting is fairly allowable in a contest wherein rams’ horns are con- 
cerned! My paper on the wild Sheep was originally published in the 
‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for July 28, 1840; was repub- 
lished in Taylor’s ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ Vol. VII, 
pp- 195, 248, with a few additional notes, and a plate representing the 
horns of some of the species ; and was again republished, with further 
additional notes, in the Society’s ‘ Journal,’ X, 858, to which last re- 
publication I shall refer, for the convenience of most readers in India. 
Let us see whether ‘ many” of the species were founded “ upon an 
inspection of the horns solely.” 

1. Ovis Polit, nobis. Founded on a magnificent frontlet and horns 
brought by Lieutenant Wood from the Pamir steppe; combined with 
the notice quoted from Marco Polo, which refers tindeniably to the 
same animal. Of the distinctness of this superb species, there ean be 
no doubt whatever; and the frontlet is figured in Taylor’s plate, figs: 
1 and 2. | 

2,3, and 4. O. ammon, Pallas; O. montana, Desmarest ; and O. 


ment of a doubtful species named by ancther, or the reduction of such to the rank of a 
synonyme, should be regarded as a labour of equal or even higher merit than the promul- 
gation of a species previously undescribed. Such a rule would furnish a criterion 
by which’ to appreciate the labours of a naturalist in this line, by enabling us to strike a 
balance between the amount of good he may have effected by adding to the stores of 
knowledge, and that of evil which he has introduced in the shape of confusion. It 
would check much recklessness in the imposition of new names which now unhappily 
prevails in several quarters. 

*Tt is true that the name Astur indicus was published anonymously, in the ‘ Bengal 
Sporting Magazine,’ and therefore the only legitimate sponsor that can be quoted for it 
is the editor of that periodical for the time ; but it has nevertheless been repeatedly quot- 
ed as Mr. Hodgson’s species, and has been acknowledged as such by him, and therefore 
it surely behoved Mr. Hodgson to set matters right without delay when he learned that 
it had been described by Temminck. 

3B 


358 Further Notice of the Species of Weld Sheep. (APRIL, 


nivicola, Eschscholtz. The first of these I had never seen, and could 
refer to merely : the second I was well acquainted with : and the third 
I only knew from M. Eschscholtz’s work, but referred also to a notice 
of it in the narrative of Kotzebue’s voyage. The Society's Museum 
now boasts a very fine specimen of O. ammon,* which I am enabled 
to assert, positively, is distinct from O. montana of North America: 
and I incline to refer to it, though with considerable hesitation, the 
horn in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, (vide 
Taylor’s plate, figs. 3 and 4,) for which I suggested the provisional 
name sculptorum; and without any hesitation Mr. Hodgson’s large 
species, first provisionally named by me Hodgsonii upon Mr. Hodg- 
son’s description of the horns in the ‘ Asiatic Researches,’ and subse- 
quently by him ammonoides.t+  Pallas’s figure of ‘O. ammon, copied 
into various works, though sufficiently rude, indicates certain characters 
which are at once recognised in the Society’s specimen ; such as the 
lengthened white hair on the fore-neck and breast, the corresponding 
hair in O. montana being blackish ; and there is no reddish-black tinge 
on the face of O. ammon: the horns are badly represented ; but, with 
a specimen for comparison, it is readily seen that the errors are due to 
want of skill m the daughtsman. These horns are considerably less 
massive than in O. montana, and their section is very different, and 
especially the view of them as seen from above: but they are more 
prolonged, in an inverse ratio to the decreased bulk towards the base ; 
though considerably less prolonged and thicker at base than in O. 


* Presented by G. T. Lushington, Esq., who has announced to methe despatch of four 
more perfect skins : we have also an imperfect skull of a young male. ‘To Mr. Lushing- 
ton the Society is likewise indebted for a skin of the Kiang received, and for another and 
more perfect specimen now on its route ; with numerous other valuable contributions. 

t Mr. H. even confounded O. ammon with O. nahoor, in As. Res. XVIII, pt: II, 135 ; 
and the mistake was first pointed out in my paper: but as he described the horns of 
quite a young ram (vide his plate) as “ accurately triangular” (i. €. equilaterally ? ) T 
did not feel justified in identifying the species with O. ammon : stating that even the 
““ Rocky Mountain species would, at the same age, have much compressed horns, far 
from attaining to an equilateral triangle ;’ to which I added that—“ Should a true 
species be here indicated, as is not improbable, distinct from O. ammon, I propose that it 
be dedicated to that assiduous investigator of Nepalese Zoology, and be accordingly 
termed O. Hodgsonii !” My opinion now, that it is, positively and decidedly, identical 
with O. ammon, will of course be received quantiim valeat, in opposition to that of Mr. 
Hodgson ; who, however, has not advanced a single reason for supposing otherwise. 


1847.] Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 359 


Poli. The most marked contrast from those of O. montana consists 
in the fact that the great bulge in the upper portion of the posterior 
surface of the horn in O. montana (which I refer to from memory only, 
though with the utmost confidence), is comparatively little more than 
indicated in O. ammon; and the rugee are particularly large in the 
latter species. Comparing the Society’s stuffed specimen with Mr. 
Hodgson’s figures and description of his (so called) O. ammonoides, 
the specifical identity is beyond all question ; and it follows that, as in 
O. montana, some individual variation occurs in different specimens. 
Thus, the horns of the Society’s specimen are rather more bulky than 
those figured and described by Mr. Hodgson, (though, by his own 
showing,* he has represented them too small in his plate III). In the 
Society's animal, the horns had about completed their fifth year of 
growth ; and measure round the curve (following the upper angle 
from the base—where the two are nearly in contact), thirty-three inches 
and a half, of which the years of growth are successively seven inches, 
eight and a half, nine, five and a half, and the basal (perhaps incom- 
plete) four and a half; the circumference at base is eighteen inches, 
width of anterior plane at base four inches, and depth at base poste- 
riorly six inches and a half; greatest width apart of the horns, mea- 
sured externally, twenty-three inches ; the tips eighteen inches apart. 
Length of ears four inches and a half; and of tail underneath (where 
nude of hair) fully three and a half, exclusive of its upper vesture. The 
total, length of this specimen, when fresh, would have been fully six 
feet ; but as none of its bones are preserved, except the horn-cores, I 
will not (with the example of Martes tufeus before me) pretend to 
give the minutize of its admeasurements. 

5. O. californiana, Douglas. Description cited from ‘ Zoological 
Journal ;? and the horns fully described by myself, and figured in Tay- 
lor’s plate, fig. 5. An unquestionable species. 


* “ Head, to base of horn, one foot, Length of horn, by curve, three feet one inch.” 
These proportions are not preserved in the plate, especially in the lateral view of the 
head. How isit, too, that the caudal disk is not represented in the figure of the female ? 

+ In the skull of a young ram, with horns in their third year of growth, these curve 
round outwards to the tip, where they commence to gyre forward and even somewhat 
inward, as in the other, the tips ultimately turning outward in the old animal. In this 
specimen, each horn measures 203 inches round the curve, and their tips are that distance 
apart : the first year’s growth measuring 11} inches, and the seeond year’s only five inches, 


a: 82 


360 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. [ APRIL, 


6. O. nahoor, Hodgson. Described from specimens, amongst which 
was a hotnless female ; and first clearly established as distinct from Q. 
ammon !* 

7. O. burrhel, nobis. Described from a fine male; and the horn 
of a still older one. It would seem, however, that I was wrong in 
assigning to it a loftier altitude of haunt than that of O. xuheor. Capt. 
Smith informs me that O. burrhel and O. nahoor keep always in sepa- 
rate flocks, and are never seen on the same feeding-ground ; the Burrhel 
seldom ascending above 16,000 feet elevation, while the Nahoor goes 
much higher. Both bleat like domestic sheep. Near the Boorendu 
Pass, the Burrhel is much more plentiful than the Nahoor; but the 
latter is far more extensively diffused over the Himalaya generally. At 
the close of summer, when the snow is nearly melted away, a very 
nutritious grass grows abundantly under a thin coating of snow, and 
both species become exceedingly fat by feeding upon it, i. e. in the 
months of August, September, and October. At this time they can 
only be compared to the prize animals exhibited at the Smithfield 
shows, and they run with considerable difficulty, though still being far 
from easy of approach. In winter, when snowed in, they actually 
browze the hair off each other’s bellies, many together having retired 
under the shelter of some overhanging rock, from which they come out 
wretchedly poor. They produce one or two young, (commonly two,) in 
June and July. In Taylor's plate, the representations of the horns of 
these two species were unluckily transposed; No. 6 referring to O. 
burrhel, and No. 7 to O. nahoor. 

8. O. cylindricornis, nobis. This is the least satisfactorily esta- 
blished of all the species in my monograph: it resting on a communi- 
cation from Col. Hamilton Smith, relative to a species which must 
have been very different from either of those known to me, though 
described from memory only by Col. H. Smith (one of the most ex- 
perienced of Zoologists in the history of the Ruminantia.) 


* I may therefore legitimately claim credit for being the first to discriminate, in print, 
not only the three Himalayan, but all the Asiatic species of wild Ovis known up to the 
present time: unless O. nivicola of Kamtschatka be considered an exception, though M, 
Eschscholtz does not explainin what respects this differs from O.ammon and O. montana ; 
from. the latter of which it would seem only to deviate in its inferior size, and in wanting 
the pale caudal disk ? 


1847. | Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 361 


9. O. Gmelini, nobis. Described from very fine specimens of the 
male, female, and young ; and identified with a species long ago rudely 
figured by the younger Gmelin, and the horn by Pallas ; and Gmelin’s 
description of the habits quoted, with further original information. 
Head figured in Taylor’s plate, No. 8. 

10. O. Vignet, nobis. Described from a coloured figure taken from 
life, and from two pairs of horns, the distinctness of which from those 
of all the other species is most obvious: vide Taylor’s plate, fig.9. A 
skin of this animal was described by Pennant as the “ Bearded Sheep,” 
but was confounded by him with O. tragelaphus (vide X, 877); and 
there is a brief notice and very passible figure of the species, taken 
from an animal killed in the vicinity of Persepolis, in Lieutenant Al- 
exander’s ‘ Travels from India to England,’ &c. (1827.) It again 
appears as the “ Wild Sheep of the Hindu Koosh,” described by Capt. 
Hay, J. A. S. IX, 440; and as Ovis cycloceros, Mutton, ‘ Calcutta 
Journal of Natural History,’ II, 514, and pl. XII, being again noticed 
by the latter gentleman in J. 4. S. XV, 152. It may be observed that 
Capt. Hay remarks this species to differ from OQ. tragelaphus “in 


) 


having a lachrymary sinus ;” and Capt. Hutton also describes ‘a 


moderate-sized lachrymal sinus, which appears to secrete, or at all 
events contains, a thick gummy substance, of good consistency, and of 
a dull greyish colour. The Afghan and Belooché hunters,” he adds, 
‘more especially the latter, make use of this gum, by spreading it over 
the pans of their matchlocks, to prevent the damp from injuring the 
priming.” We may, therefore, rest satisfied of its existence in this 
species, which is nevertheless most closely allied to the next.* 


* In a catalogue of Mr. Hodgson’s collection presented to the British Museum, 
prepared by Mr. J. E. Gray, who has obligingly presented me with a copy of it, just 
received, I find O. Vignei, Blyth, set down asa synonyme of 0. ammonoides, Hodgson, 
and O. Hodgsonii, nobis, also cited, either of which names has the advantage of priority 
over that of ammonoides, supposing the latter to refer to a species distinct from O. ammon : 
but Mr. Gray might as well identify O. musimon or O. tragelaphus with O. ammonoides, 
and reduce all the wild species of Ovis to one, as bring together two such widely 
different species ashe has here done. He might just as well unite Cervus capreolus with 
C. elaphus or C. tarandus ! 

So, in his synonymes of Presbytis entellus, he not only erroneously refers Pr. schista- 
ceus, Hodgson, to this Bengal animal, but the much more different Pr. hypoleucos, nobis, 
peculiar to Malabar and Travancore, and which Mr. Martin introduced as a variety of 


362 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. [ APRIL, 


11. O.musimon, L. Described by me from life, and a further notice 
given in J. 4. S. X, 878. ‘‘The Argalis and Moufflons (not to men- 
tion the Tragelaphi),’’* writes Mr. Hodgson, ‘ seem to form two strik- 
ing groups among the wild Sheep : our Nahoor is a complete Moufflon ; 
hence it occurs to me to ask, if the Corsican animal is, like the Hima- 
layan, devoid of suborbital sinuses?’ To this I can reply, that the 
Prince of Canino states that it is so devoid :+ but however this may be, 
if Mr. Hodgson wishes to subdivide the group of wild Sheep, he is 
altogether wrong in approximating the Nahoor and Burrhel to the 


Pr. Johnii! This, too, is done without so much as a note of interrogation ; while to the 
considerably more nearly allied Pr. anchises, Elliot, he does afix a mark of doubt—it 
being, however, with Pr. priamus of the Coromandel coast and Ceylon, distinct also. 

With equal positiveness, in his ‘ Catalogue of the Species of Mammalia in the British 
Museum,’ Mr. Gray identified Bos gaurus and B. frontalis (not to cite other instances of 
like precipitancy)! But he has now Mr. Hodgson’s specimens of skulls of these two Boves, 
and, as a matter of course, enumerates them as separate species. So, with adequate 
data to form an opinion upon, will he by and bye admit Ovis Vignei and the different 
Monkeys alluded to; for to imagine otherwise will then even appear preposterous ! 

It will be necessary for me to go critically over this catalogue of Mr. Hodgson’s 
species, upon which I have more than a few remarks and corrections of nomenclature and 
of synonymes to offer; but I shall confine myself here to one further remark, relative 
to the particularly cool manner in which Anthus striolatus, Blyth, is placed as a synonyme 
of A. rufescens: the fact being, that my description of A. striolatus is not even yet pub- 
lished, and the name could only have transpired through Mr. Jerdon’s bare mention of 
it, in the ‘ Madras Journal’ No. XX XI, p. 186; unless, indeed, Mr. Jerdon has himself 
forwarded specimens of this rare Indian Pipit to Europe, in which ease I do seriously 
object to provisional and unpublished names of my coining being thus introduced to the 
world as empty synonymes. 

Mr. Gray has, in fact, placed not a few synonymes to my credit (or discredit) in this 
catalogue, of which I shall hasten to disavow the paternity ! 

* What does Mr. H. mean by the Trazgelaphi? Tragelaphus, Ham. Smith, stands for a 
genus of Antelopes, of which the Guib and Boschbok and Ruppell’s Decula are the types. 
If he wants a subgeneric name for the African Wild Sheep, he is perfectly aware that 
I have termed it Ammotragus. How would he approve of his Pseudois being thus con- 
temptuously passed over ? 

+ Vide Jardine’s ‘ Naturalists’ Library,’ Art. Moufflon, I have some impression, 
nevertheless, of having observed small ones ; which is rather confirmed by Mr. Ogilby’s 
remark, in his‘ Mammalogy of the Himalaya,’ (vide Royle’s Botany, &c.) that “ O. 
nahoor is intermediate in character between O. musimon and O. tragelaphus, which latter 
species it resembles in the form of the horns” (?), ‘and in the absence of the crumens, 
or tear-pits, which distinguish the rest of the genus.” Now aspecimen of O. musimon 
was set up in the museum of the Zoological Society, at the time that its then Secretary, 
Mr. Ogilby, indicted the remark here quoted. 


1847. | Further Notice of the Species of IWiid Sheep. 363 


Moufllon of Corsica. These two Himalayan species, instead of being 
“complete Moufflons,”’ are (so far at Jeast as their horns are concerned) 
most particularly unlike O. musimon, and form a little group per se, 
unless O. eylindricornis should prove to range with them: and the 
Moufilon is quite excluded from his definition of ‘ round-horned” 
Sheep, for which group I presume the appellation Pseudvis is pro- 
posed. Their being “furnished with a well developed tail,’’ (really 
there is uo such marked difference in this respect,) will not exclude the 
Californian Argali, the tail of which is described as “eighteen inches 
long?’ Yet the horns of this animal are most typically those of an 
Argali (vide Taylor’s plate)! Mr. Hodgson. suggests ‘ the generic 
appellation Psewdois, lest,” he adds, “as has too often happened to me, 
some closet systematizer, who never was at the pains to examine 
nature for himself, should step in to ‘name and classify,’ (the work of 
a moment, as ordinarily done,) my discoveries.”* But if any discovery 
is claimed in the present instance, it remains to show in what it con- 
sists: for Mr. Ogilby long ago remarked the absence of suborbital 
sinuses in O. nahoor ; and the group formed by O. nahoor and O. 
burrhel was distinctly indicated in my monograph (vide J. A. S., X, 
867), being estimated there, as I still think, at its true value. Mr. 


* By the way, how isit that these complaints, so many times repeated, and bordering 
somewhat on the querulous, should be altogether peculiar among present cultivators of 
Zoology to Mr. Hodgson? Does Mr. H. complain of my having chanced to anticipate 
him in the’ publication of Rhipidura hypoaantha and Muscicapula hyperythra? Or in first 
discriminating in print the Ovts nuhoor from O.ammon ?—Or, supposing that 1 knew of an 
animal of which I was well aware that Mr. H. possessed the female only, and that he was 
waiting to procure a male in order to satisfy himself whether or not it differed from a 
certain other species ; supposing in such a case that I were to intercept the male which 
otherwise would have been transmitted to him, and immediately rush into print with a 
description of both sexes anda ‘‘ mili” attached, and in that description were even to 
refer to Mr. Hodgson’s unpublished opinion respecting the species, which opinion he had 
been cautious not to commit to print!—Mr. Hodgson might perhaps be justified in say- 
ing that I had been guilty of much discourtesy towards him, and have forfeited my 
claim for courtesy in return? Even such, mutatis mutandis, is the history of Antilope ( Pro- 
capra ) picticaudata, Hodgson! Dr. Campbell kindly forwarded the female of this animal 
some time ago to the Society’s Museum, and hoped soon to be able to procure and send a 
male ; tut Mr. Hodgson happened to be at Darjeeling when Dr. Campbell succeeded 
in procuring two males and a female, and has assuredly taken due (or undue) advantage 
of the accident of his local position! Who here “steps in to name and classify” 
ce. &c.? 


364 Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. [ApRIL; 


Hodgson will find it necessary to become familiarly acquainted with 
many more Species of wild Sheep, than those found upon the Himalaya, 
if he thinks of subdividing the series otherwise than most crudely and 
unsatisfactorily ; and when he has properly studied the whole genus, 
even as now known, he will find its subdivision considerably more 
difficult than may seem to him at present, and he will then be able to 
declaim with a better grace on the short-comings of others, who 
may have opportunities and local advantages which he has not, as he 
likewise enjoys some which they would assuredly not fail to turn to due 
account. 

Should it prove that O. musimon is really devoid of the facial cavities, 
the value of this character would fall to a mere specifica] distinction ; 
for however the wild Sheep may be arranged into minor groups, the 
O. Vignei (which has the sinuses) could scarcely be placed in a different 
subdivision from O. musimon. And to the same group must be referred 
O. Gmelini and O. ophion, though together perhaps forming a subsec- 
tion of it! Both in O. Gmelint and O. Vignet, we find indications of 
affinity with the African O. tragelaphus. 

12. O. ophion, nobis. Founded on the coloured figure and de- 
scription, by M. M. Brandt and Ratzeburgh, of a specimen in the Berlin 
Museum. 

13. O. aries, L. The domestic Sheep. Several wild types, as I 
still strongly suspect: but none of those above enumerated ; unless, to 
a partial extent, O. Vignei, though even this very doubtful. 

14? O. (?) Ixalus probaton, Ogilby. Described from a hornless 
specimen, which is at least closely allied to Ovis. 

15. O. tragelaphus, Pallas. A well known species. Described 
from specimens, observed both alive and in museums. 

The reader may now judge of the data upon which I founded my 
various new species of wild Ovis ; and equally of Mr. Hodgson’s dis- - 
paraging assertion of my “ founding many of them upon an inspection 
of the horns solely.” Such assertions, if not promptly repelled, as I 
trust this has been, are calculated to damage the reputation of a work- 
ing zoologist, who should endeavour to do the utmost that is fairly 
practicable with the means at his disposal; but who should know 
better than to transgress the bounds of moderation in these matters, . 
as by publishing such a name as Asinus equioides to the world, upon 


1847. | Further Notice of the Species of Wild Sheep. 365 


the data on which that name is sought to be established, and then 
ludicrously complain of “innumerable vague and shadowy species” 
being “the plague of zoological science.” 

Finally, respecting Antilope picticaudata, Hodgson: having only 
the skin of a female to judge from, I consider myself perfectly justified 
in having provisionally regarded it as Antilope gutturosa of Pallas, 
although I did not choose to go the length of publishing that opinion, 
as Mr. Hodgson has done for me. In the first place, both animals 
are from Chinese Tartary ; secondly, both differ from every other 
known Antelope, excepting the Prong-horn of North America, in 
having a white caudal disk, as in the Argali Sheep, various true 
elaphine Stags, &c.; thirdly, the rest of the colouring of the Society’s 
specimen corresponds with the desctibed summer dress of A. gutturosa ; 
fourthly, their short tails are similiar ; fifthly, the females of both are 
hornless ; sixthly, as regards the size of 4. picticaudata, how was I to 
know that the female in the Society’s museum was full grown, it having 
no skull to guide me; seventhly, 4. gutturosa is described to have 
slight tufts of hair on the knees, scarcely sufficiently long to deserve 
the name of brushes; and though I could scarcely make these out 
distinctly in the Society’s specimen, I thought they might perhaps be 
more developed in another; and eighthly, the suborbital sinus in 4. 
gutturosa is described to be small, and I could merely distinguish a 
small bare place in lieu of the sinus on both sides of the face of the 
Society’s specimen; moreover, we know that this sinus becomes more 
developed’ at the rutting season, and at other times it may be so slight 
as to become obliterated in a dry skin. As for the swoln larynx, it is 
as much peculiar to the male sex, as are the horns and preputial gland ; 
and even the larynx would, I doubt not, as in 4. cervicapra, be much 
more developed at the rutting season than at other times, and probably 
the preeputial gland also. I should therefore have considered myself 
altogether disqualified from assuming the tone which I now feel myself 
entitled to hold, if I had added to the ‘‘innumerable vague and sha- 
dowy species” which Mr. Hodgson so consistently denounces, by de- 
scribing 4. picticaudata as a species distinct from d. gutturosa, of 
which, indeed, I am still very far from being satisfied, as I think it yet 
requires to be examined in the recent state, and the males during the 
height of the rutting period. 

3.C 


366 How to take correct facsimiles of inscriptions. [ APRIL, 


To conclude, if Mr. Hodgson had preserved the amenities of fair 
and amicable discussion, in his various depreciatory remarks, I should 
have forborne, as hitherto, from calling special attention to certain of 
his own very marked inconsistencies, to use the mildest expression ; 
and should have even passed quietly over his appropriation of the 
Tibetan Antelope (if it eally prove new) : but in disregarding the rules 
of courtesy towards me and others, he has invited a plain-spoken 
rejoinder, which I have reluctantly felt myself compelled to issue 
sine mord. 

P.S. Itis dueto Mr. Hodgson that I should here notice, and I 
have unfeigned pleasure in doing so, that I have just received from 
him a communication (dated March 24th,) in which he has, in the 
most handsome manner, spontaneously tendered his regret, if, in the heat 
of composition, he may have penned aught that I might consider as dis- 
courteous ; and I rejoice that it is in my power to append this trait of 
good feeling on his part, which I am sure that he will have the gene- 
rosity to exhibit further, should he haply think my reply at all acrimo- 
nious, or written under excited feelings.* 


Instructions how to take Correct Facsimiles of Inscriptions, by Captain 
Kittror, 6th N. I. 


To take correct facsimiles without reversing the writing which the 
common method of damping and pressing the paper on tlfem, or of 
blackening the stone produces, the following method is recommended. 

Heat in a ladle, and mix, equal parts of spirits of turpentine, linseed 
oil and bees wax, with sufficient red lead or ochre, ground as fine as 
possible, and let it cool. Then rub this mto fine Serampore or bazar 


* We regret that Mr. Blyth has deemed it necessary to couch his defence in terms of 
asperity. As his opinions were impugned in a recent paper by Mr. Hodgson, he has an 
undoubted right of rejoinder, for the tone of which he is of course responsible. But we 
protest against the repetition of such jousting in the Journal, the high character and digni- 
fied position of which are in no small measure attributable to the absence of every sem- 
blance of personality from its pages; a circumstance most honorable to the cultivators 
of science in this country, and not easily paralleled in the history of any European Jour- 
nal. Our contributors will, we feel assured, concur with us that this high character must 


on no consideration be compromised,— Errors. 


1847. | How to take correct facsimiles of inscriptions. 367 


paper with a rag, so as to color it uniformly, more or less, according to 
the nature of the stone on which the incriptions are cut ; if the surface 
is very smooth, the thinner the color the better, and vice versa. It is 
best to keep a few sheets ready prepared of different shades of color 
on hand. These should be rolled on alight roller with a sheet of 
blotting or unsized paper between each, to absorb all superfluous greasy 
matter. Paper prepared with ochre mixed in water answers, but is apt 
to obliterate. . 

To take off impressions, first of all damp your plain paper slightly, 
and with little wafers of bees wax fasten it tightly over the inscription ; 
next cut a slip of prepared (colored) paper the width of two or three 
lines, according to the size of the letters, and when very large, of one 
line only ; apply the colored face to the white paper, and with a muller 
made of hard wood, rub the paper longitudinally and vertically until all 
the letters appear as clear they will, moving the colored paper onwards 
as the impression comes off: the color becomes transferred by this 
means into all the raised surface of the inscribed stone, leaving the 


‘cavities or letters white. This will be more or less perfect according 


to the nature of the stone, the smoothest giving the best impressions. 

It is better in large inscriptions to cut your white paper also in 
strips and to number the lines as you take them off to enable you to 
adjust them afterwards. 

When the impression has been thus taken, it should be most carefully 
compared, letter for letter, with the original, and indistinct letters should 
be supplied in pencil; it will be found that rough surfaces require this 
invariably, indeed some inscriptions cannot be fairly imprinted with 
the color; however, it is best to make the most of it and make the 
letters distinct with a pencil as suggested. 

For correcting, the light at sunrise and sunset, also strong moon light, 
or by torch at night is best ; letters that are invisible at other times 
become distinct then; the surface should be looked at obliquely, and 
indeed from every point till the eye catches the form of the letters ; 
of course this will be easier to one accustomed to the different alphabets 
and who may be able to read and comprehend them. 

In searching for inscriptions parties should practically, never ‘“ leave 
a stone unturned,” for they often occur in the most unlikely localities, 
usually above doors or within their jaumbs, or in some dark corner 

3 ¢ 2 


368 Taking and preparing drawings for lithograph,  [APRIL, 


within, and above all things, never believe it when the inhabitants say 
there are none, but search yourself for them. 

I would lay much stress upon one point calculated to aid parties in 
their search for antiquities, it is this. Never neglect visiting every 
clump of, or single Peepul or Banyan trees, and particularly if on a high 
mound or by water, for a practice exists all over India of collecting 
fragments of stone of all kinds, sculptured or inscribed under such trees. 

Whenever a high mound is seen in a flat part of country, depend 
upon it, it is the site of an ancient city. Those who have travelled in 
the Punjaub, and in the Cis-Sutledge territory, will not have failed to 
remark this. Witness all the places the names of which end in “ put” 
and ‘‘ hana,” Paneeput, Son-put, Cong-put, Sam-hana, Pud-hana, &c. 
&e. but there are very many mounds im the other and distinct names 
such as Kupoor, Mumdote, Kunnoje, Kurra, Manicpoor. 

It would be very useful if in the different revenue surveys attention 
were paid to those mounds or sites of old towns, and that they should 
be entered in the maps, the names carefully recorded in the dialect and 
written character of the country. 


Hints on the Easiest Method of taking and preparing Drawings for 
Inthograph, by the same. 


Several years ago I proposed contributing (monthly) specimens of 
sculpture, but various impediments have been opposed to the fulfil- 
ment of the promise ; as I think that the subject is still worthy of con- 
sideration, I would suggest your inviting contributions, to facilitate 
which, both as to execution and economy, I would offer the following 
hints. : 

In the first place, the more simple the drawing the more correct the 
idea conveyed of the object to be represented and the less the trouble 
of execution, both for the draftsman and the copyist, whose charges 
must be regulated by the extent of work ; a plain outline drawing is 
sufficient, and should be reduced to the size required for the Journal. 

There is a method by which much accuracy is attamed and trouble 
and expense spared. | 

The drawing should be first carefully reduced to the size required 
upon stiff paper, and the outlines boldly done with Indian ink ; this 


1847.] Notice of Tremenheerite, a new carbonaceous mineral, 369 


should be again traced on that description of China paper commonly 
used in Calcutta for lithographic purposes, with a medium pencil, or 
better still in lake witha pen, and be then carefully rolled and packed 
to prevent its being in the slightest degree crumpled or soiled ; equal care 
must be observed whilst drawing, that neither greasy particles nor 
perspiration touch the paper ; such drawings can be easily lithographed 
even by indifferent native draftsmen, for all that remains to be done, is, 
to apply the yellow transfer mixture over the pencil drawing, and when 
ready for use the whole has merely to be drawn over (traced) with the 
pen or brush and lithographic ink. Many of the plates of my Tllus- 
trations of Indian Architecture were prepared in this manner. The 
outlines should be exactly of the depths required for the shading. 
This plan is applicable to representations of any objects in outline and 
for facsimiles of inscriptions in particular, and will be found much safer 
than the actual drawings, with the chemical ink on the transfer paper, 
which are always liable to injury and never certain of success. Drawing 
the outline in pale red ink or lake is better than pencil, as the latter 
being dark, is apt to be overlooked in the tracing. 

For drawing sculptures, &c. &c. a frame divided off into three inch 
squares, ‘with thick white cotton twine well stiffened ; the centre per- 
pendicular and horizontal thread being red for easier guidance, is strong- 
ly recommended; the paper must be divided also mto squares. The 
frame is placed at a convenient distance from the object, when all that 
is requisite is to keep the same position whilst drawing, and this is 
easily done by marking a dot on the object, cutting the crossing of the 
red threads ; great accuracy and facility is attamed by this method. 

It should be borne in mind that clear, bold outlines are far more 
valuable than indistinct sketches, however beautifully colored, which 
are indeed of little use. 


Notice of TREMENHEERITE, a new carbonaceous mineral, by Henry 
PippinctTon, Curator Museum of Economic Geology. 


This substance was sent to the Museum from Tenasserim by Capt. 
Tremenheere, B. E. as Black Wad, but it contains no trace of Manga- 
nese. 


370 Notice of Tremenheerite, a new carbonaceous mineral. |APRIL, 


It is, when fresh, in masses of a scaly structure and of a deep black 
colour, with a highly metallic lustre, much resembling coarsely foliated 
graphite ; after a few months it partly falls to powder, or rather ito 
scaly flakes, evidently from the decomposition of pyrites, of which it 
contains about three per cent. It powders easily, but the powder is 
always scaly, soiling, greasy, and glittering, like graphite. If the pul- 
verised part be washed and ground, the tougher metallic looking scales 
remain as a black micaceous residuum, and it is only after long rubbing 
and washing that they also are pulverised, showing great toughness in 
the compacter and larger scales of the mineral. It soils much but is 
too soft to mark with, nor can any very determined streak be made ; 
what is so is of a deep black. When heated a little sulphur sublimes ; 
the mass burns but very slowly indeed, reddening only at first and for 
a long time like some varieties of graphite, and requirmg a good supply 
of air to the crucible and constant stirring to effect its combustion. 

With patient attention the whole is burnt, with the exception of a 
small residuum of a very light, and bright fawn-coloured powder, which 
is a mixture of oxide of iron and silex. ; 

Its composition is found to be in 100 parts, 


CALDODS fer eo teaer eee ee errant . 85.70 
Water and: Sulphur, 722.5000" ee 0 ey eet 
Peroxide Tron)? Pot, es ee 2.50 
Rarth, -chiéily Stheayee ee 

99.70 
Water Ariel lOSS..) sate catty ok abe? pee oar 30 

100.00 


This mineral then differs from the anthracites in its high lustre, scaly 
structure, and ready pulverisation, by which it approaches the gra- 
phites ; as well as by its iron and very slow combustion ; but then from 
these it differs by its streak, and high combustibility with nitre ; for, 
like coal and the anthracites, when projected upon melted nitre it defla- 
erates, heating the crucible instantly to redness, while the graphites 
not only boil but heat the crucible also, and seem but partly and very 
slowly to part with their carbon till a much higher heat is given. 

This distinction I have not yet found noticed in any chemical or 
mineralogical work, but it seems to me to be no bad test by which to 


1847. | On a new kind of Coal, being Volcanic Coal. 371 


separate the graphites from the anthracites ; namely, that with nitre, 
at a heat a little above its melting point only, the former melt and are 
consumed, while the latter deflagrate and almost explode. My trials 
were made with graphite from Borrowdale, from Cochin and from the 
Himalaya, all of which, as above stated, diffused themselves over the 
nitre and were consumed gradually, while Newcastle Coal, American 
Anthracite and our present mineral deflagrate smartly. 

It is usually taken, on the authority of Berzelius, founded on Kar- 
sten’s researches, that the iron in graphite is a mere fortuitous mixture ; 
but Beudant acutely says* alluding to this, that ‘“‘ when the iron is 
wanting we have no graphite, and when this substance is found in our 
furnaces, the proportions are sensibly the same,” i e. about 8 per cent. 
which he seems to think may be the true proportion. I do not advert 
to Kirwan’s experiments, which were merely relating to coal and not to 
coal and graphite in comparison with each other. 

In Professor Wanuxem’s experiments (Phil. Mag. for September 
1845) the quantity of manganese and iron in anthracites is stated to be 
from 0.2 to 7.10 percent. and the water from 4.90 to 6.70. In the 
graphites he found from 1.40 to 3.60 per cent. of oxide of iron and 
manganese in the pure, and 20.00 per cent. in the impure kinds; and 
of water from 0.60 to 1.23 in the pure and 5.33 per cent. in the impure 
kinds. | 

It may then be a mooted pot to which of these two classes of the 
anthracinea} our mineral belongs, but as I have found nothing of the 
kind described before I have given it a distinguishing name, to be 
adopted or rejected, as better authorities shall determine. 


On a new kind of Coal, being Voucanic Coat, from Arracan, by 
the same 


This coal was sent us from Kyook Phyoo by Major Wilhams, as one 
of the products of the eruption of the Mud Volcano at that station, 
described in his letter in the Proceedings for November, 1846. 

It is in two lumps, which look externally like rolled boulders of Coal, 
and feel greasy on the outside like graphite. 


* Beudant Minerologie, p. 404. 


+ Il use here Mr. Dana’s term for this order, 


372 On a new kind of Coal, being Voleanie Coal. [APRIL, 


It is highly sectile on the outside, being easily cut or pared without = 
breaking, like soft plumbago. ‘Internally it is a little more brittle, but 
still very sectile. Its smell when cut is very peculiar, being highly 
sooty, like the smell of a foul chimney in which a fire has not bemg 
made for along time. When breathed upon the smell is very earthy 
and ‘ bitter.” | 

The internal structure is in one direction highly foliated, or scaly, and. 
somewhat curved, with a semi-metallic lustre; at right angles to this 
it is granular and glimmering; the fracture partakes of both. In its 
general appearance it reminds us much of coal altered by dikes cutting 
through it. The streak is highly metallic, and the mineral very soft. 
It writes well and of a brown colour. 

Its specific Gravity is 1.28. 

In an impure part of the specimen there are minute white ves, which 
are Carbonate of Lime. It burns and swells up like Newcastle Coal, 
but its smell when burning is more that of Cannel Coal. This is doubt- 
less from the absence of sulphur of which there are no traces. It coaks 
perfectly ; swelling however to a mass four times the original size, while 
the best Newcastle only increases to about double its size. 

Its composition is in 100 parts, 


Water, FO Nb a irk. fh teoe ie Oe re ica 1.00 
Carbon, °. «i's . scyal nc /aeeriaine asp ekbe eee © «see oe 
Gaseous matter, ........ Dede ares ide stn bs 
Earthy residuum Iron eid Silex, Bee ol ee 
100.00 
It gives of Coke per cent. by an independent ex- 
periment ona solid lump, %.../ one. . «Jb ayes 
Newcastle Coal from the Percy High main seam 
elves per cent, OF Coke... ig. 78.8 
The mean of Cokes from Bupkek ‘Coal _ ba 
Ure (Diety. (Chemistry) 18). sic. oss any). to 4D 


We have here the fact that there must exist a seam or deposit of very 
fine Coal not far from the site of the Mud Volcanoes, and though at 
present all we know of the Arracan Coal is unpromising on account of 
the thinness of the seams, yet as nothing but surface examinations have 
yet taken place, and these not by professional miners, we may hope for 

4 


a eee ors aa hae ee Sa POP eee 


—e 


a 


1847.] Hints to Students of Arabic. 373 


better results when due research shall have been made. The alteration 
of the coal by the steam of the Mud Volcano cannot be great, since it 
preserves so large proportion of its bituminous matter. And coal like 
this if attainable, and in quantity, would be very valuable. 

The per centage of ash in English coal is I see* only 7 or 8, at the 
highest, and more often far less. The mean of 13 specimens is 2.8 only, 


but one would suppose some error here. 


Since this paper was written I have received from Major Williams a 
further supply of specimens collected at the Volcano, of which he says 
that there is no doubt about the coal’s being the produce of the Volcano, 
and that the hardest specimens sent are those from a former eruption. 
Some of these are exactly our Volcanic coal, others approach more to 
Jet, and some which are intersected with Carbonate of Lime make very 
pretty specimens when polished. 


Hints to Students of Arabic ; extracted from a letter by Col. Lockett. 


I have to apologise to you for not writing sooner, but I have been 
so much engaged with the public examinations in the College that I 


have really not had time. 


If C. has made no progress in Arabic, he should commence with 
Bayley’s Tables, which he will master in aweek. He may then read 
attentively the Murt Amil and Shurhao Murt Amil, two works on 
Arabic Syntax, which will give him enough of grammar. I have 
translated both these works into English, and it will be of use to him, 
as there are many easy Arabic stories in it with translations. He can 
get acopy from the College Library on application. He must then 
begin to read some easy Arabic work to give him words and a know- 
ledge of construction. The Arabian Nights Entertainment, and the 
Ikhwan-oos-suffa, are the easiest books and best adapted for that pur- 
pose. He may read about 200 pages in each. Then he may com- 
mence on Mahommedan Law in Arabic. 

There are three text books of the Mahommedan Law, all containing 
texts or simple rules on the same heads, but expressed in different 
words, supposed by the writers to be more explicit or comprehensive. 
The most ancient and authentic is that of Kudooree. The Wakayah 

* Prinsep’s Table, Jour.: Vol. VII. p. 197. 


374 Hints to Students of Aradie. 


and Kunz-ood-dukaek are the others; but they are but copies of the 
former with the change of style or phraseology I have mentioned. 
Then comes the Shurhus or Commentaries on these. The Hedayah is 
a Shurhu of the Kudooree, with an amplified text, but the whole of 
Kudoorees text verbatim et literatim is found in the Hedayah. This 
the Kazees and Mooftees and Moulavees in Calcutta were not till lately 
acquainted with. Captain Galloway, who has translated, but not pre- 
pared for publication the Kudooree, found part and explained it to 
them. ; 

The Hedayah is an invaluable work, but then it is full of disquisition 
and subtilty of argument which would not be much to the taste of a 
beginner, and this has given rise to fifty different Hasheeuwh or annota- 
tions on the Hedayah. There is a commentary on the Kudooree, the 
Suraj-ool Wuhawj g2,)1 glye, but that is also a voluminous work. 
The Shurh Wukayah, a common work, is a good one. There are indeed 
several Shurhus on that text, all easy and good, by Abool Mukarum 
Birgundee, &c. and the Jaeemeea-ooz-Rumooz. Of the Kunz-ood Du- 
kaek, the Aeenee is a good and easy shurh and a good book for a 
beginner, as well as the three last mentioned. Then there are the 
Futawahs, or collections of supposed cases and the opinions of the 
lawyers on them. These puzzle a beginner because he seldom finds 
a decided preference expressed for any opinion ; but this wears off by 
a little acquaintance with the books and the celebrity of the lawyers who 
have expressed the conflicting opinions, and the increasing strength of 
the reader’s own judgment ; and if after all he find the opinions heavily 
balanced, he knows he may then adopt whichever his own mature judg- 


ment may think most suitable to the equity of the case. This is 


supposing him to be a Judge and that he had to decide a case in real life. 
The style however, of those Futawahs is quite simple, as well indeed 
as of all the Law Books, like that of books of science in all languages. 
Technical phrases are to be learnt of course. In short, the dryness of 
the subject is the only difficulty a student of Mahommedan law has 
to fear, but the Haser will encounter the Desert. Let there bea 
motive and the task will be overcome. C. should read Harrington’s 
chapter on Mahommedan Law in the Ist volume of the Analysis, and 
provide himself with Hamilton’s Hedayah. 


PL LDALP PLP PEI VII 


Sp ok 


Moa fae 


ee a ey ee es ee 


ay Se 
>. Fo 


_ a 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 


Marcu, 1847. 


The usual monthly meeting of the Asiatic Society was held on Wed- 
nesday evening, the 10th March. The Lord Bishop in the chair. 

The minutes of the preceding meeting having been read, 

Major Marshall stated that in the financial report lately submitted, no 
notice was taken of the debt of £150 incurred by the Society to the 
Hon’ble the Court of Directors in 1840, for the passage to this country 
of Mr. Blyth, the Curator of the Zoological Museum. 

Dr. O’Shaughnessy, as one of the Secretaries, observed that he was 
not aware of the existence of this debt, but due enquiry should be made, 
and the result reported at the next meeting. 

The proceedings of the February meeting were then unanimously 
confirmed. 

The accounts of receipts and expenditure for the preceding month, 
with cash vouchers were laid on the table, for perusal of members 
during the ensuing month. 

The following gentlemen were then balloted for and duly elected 
members of the Society. 

H. Thornhill, Esq. C. S., proposed by Mr. Bushby, seconded by 
Lieut.-Col. Forbes. | 

J. Newmarch, Esq., proposed by Mr. S. G. T. Heatly, seconded by 
Dr, O’Shaughnessy. 

Lieut. Douglas, Artillery, proposed by Capt. Broome, seconded by 
Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 

Baboo Debendernath Tagore, proposed by Dr. O'Shaughnessy, se- 

conded by Mr. Laidlay. 
__ E. Linstedt, Esq., proposed by Mr. Blyth, seconded by Mr. Laidlay. 


LD ] 


o D 


376 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Marcu, 


Baboo Dwarkanauth Bose, M.R.C.8.E., proposed by Dr. D. Stewart- 
seconded by Mr. Blyth. 

Rev. A. Sandberg, Benares, proposed by the Rev. J. Long, seconded 
by Mr. J. Ward. 


Rev. William Keane, M. A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge, pro- 
posed by the Lord Bishop, seconded by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 

J. Kerr, Esq., Hindu College, proposed by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, se- 
conded by Lieut.-Col. Forbes. 

The following gentlemen were proposed as candidates for election :— 

The Rev. S. Slater, proposed by Rev. J. Long, seconded by Rev. J. 
YI. Pratt. 


Count Lackersteen, proposed by Mr. Blyth, seconded by Mr. Laidlay. 


D. Money, Esq. C. S., proposed by Dr. O’ Shaughnessy, seconded by 
Mr. Welby Jackson. 


Lieut. Staples, Bengal Artillery, proposed by Mr. Laidlay, seconded 
by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 


The subjoined letter from Mr. Carre Tucker should have appeared 
among the proceedings last month. The box of shells and bones to 
which it refers was exhibited at the January meeting. 


To the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. 

Sin,—I did myself the pleasure of sending you a few days ago, a box of bones, 
found at a place called Umhut, on the Koana Nuddee, which flows from Oudh, and 
joins the Gogra at Gopalpore. A bridge is building near the spot; and the con- 
yicts in digging for Kunkur, came upon what would appear to be a pit filled with 
shells, deers’ horns, and all sorts of bones. It appears to be about 12 or 15 feet 
deep. The size is not yet known; but many thousand maunds of shells have 
already been dug out for lime. The termination of the bed of shells, where we 
have come upon it, is perpendicular, like the side of a pit. The site is some jungle 
close to the high bank of the Nuddee. | 

No one in the neighbourhood can make even a tolerable guess how this immense 
mass of shells and bones could have come where we find them. There is no village 
any where near. Some of the people think that some great man in former days 
must have intended to build a bridge where mine is now building, and have collected 
the shells for lime. Others, that a mahajun may have collected them for export- 
ation ; but neither of these hypotheses will account for the large quantity of horns 
and bones found amongst the shells. Perhaps the most general belief is, that an 
Asur lived there, and that he was in the habit of chucking into this pit.the bones of 
the men and animals he devoured, as also the shells of the fish he was forced to eat 
when he could get nothing better to devour ! ! | 


1847.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 377 


I lave little doubt the collection is artificial—but I am quite at a loss to imagine 
how, and by whom, it could have been made. 

As a matter of curiosity, I have thought it right to send you some of the shells, 
bones and horns, with the above brief account. The discovery has been a fortunate 
ene for me, in supplying me with an enormous quantity of the finest lime for my 
numerous bridges. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 
H. Carre Tucker. 
Magistrate and Collector. 
Gortickpore, 26ih January, \847. 


Letters were read— 

From the Secretary to the Superintendent of Marine, forwarding 
Meteorological Registers kept at Kyook Phyoo. 

From the Society of Antiquarians of London, presenting the 31st vol. 
of the Archzeologia. | 

From Captain Kittoe, respecting his late investigations of the Bud- 
dhist remains in the Gyah district, and announcing despatch of several 
sculptures and inscriptions. 


To the Secretaries of the Asiatic Society. 

Dear GENTLEMEN,—! had intended being present at this meeting but am 
prevented, and as I had reserved my different papers as well as collection of Behar 
Inscriptions for the same occasion, they must also stand over for the next meeting. 

The papers I have prepared are as follows :— 

1. Notice of the Ruins and Temple of Oomga near Sherghatti, and inscriptions. 
Xe, 

2. Notice of the Viharas and Chaityas of Behar. 

3. Notice of the Buddhist sculptures at Bodh Gyah. 

4, Notice of the hills, caves and inscriptions, &c. of Barabar near Gyah. 

With illustrations on a scale suited to the Journal, and ready for lithographing 
according to the plan suggested in a late letter to you on that subject. 

I have the pleasure to state that I have despatched several cart loads of sculp- 
tures, &c. for our Museum, as well as a few Geological specimens. 

I beg to invite the attention of the Geological branch or department to the sub- 
ject of the mineral productions of the country south of Hazaribaugh, which I have 
lately passed through. The valley 10 miles south of the Dorunda road, the streams 
of which run westward exhibits the sandstone of the coal formation to a great 


extent; it was in this valley that coal was found six or seven years back, Above 


the rock and on the hills which separate it from the valley of the Deo Mad or 


Damooda, is a vast deposit of iron ore which supplies the province of Behar— 


or 2 


378 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, [Marcu, 


Gneiss ? make its appearance on the higher land and the sandstone again appears 
on either side of the Damooda valley ; no doubt coal would be found in abundance 
in all these tracts. 

Sandstone of a less decided kind is found in the valley of the Barrakur, close to 
the great trunk road, where I quarried a large quantity for the public works, still I 
am of opinion that it belongs to the coal formation. 

I have picked up rolled fragments of coal in the Mohana, which crosses the trunk 
road beyond Dunwa. I intended to have traced this coal, but public duties have 
ever prevented me. I believe coal would be found in the upper valleys of all the 
large rivers flowing from the Vindhia hills. 

Having seen the Burdwan fields and those further west, which follow both the 
Barrakur and Damooda, as well as those just mentioned, I should lay great stress on 
the subject of the Orissa coal fields. I therefore now beg to assert that I feel con- 
fident that an extensive field exists in the valley of the Mahanuddee close to Cuttack, 
(below the surface,) and that the field I first brought to notice in 1837, called the 
Talcher mines, is fully as extensive as at first supposed by me. I can now safely say 
that the coal could be worked close to the river side (Brahman’s) as low down nearly 
as Kurugpursad, below which the river is navigable the greater part of the year. 

I would suggest that the valley of the Byturnee be also examined, though I con- 
sider the Brahman’s coals to be the most valuable on account of the immense supply 
of iron ore of excellent quality found in the same locality. Now that we are about 
to have rail roads with the consequent demand for iron, the subject of iron and 
coal fields becomes of first importance. 

I must beg indulgence for this rambling letter ; the will must be taken for the deed. 
I am anxious to convey as much intelligence even of the slightest importance as 
chance throws in my way, with a view to stimulate others to do the same ; perchance 


{ may convey some useful hint among the many. 
M. Kirror. 


The marked thanks of the Society were directed to be conveyed to 
Captain Kittoe for this communication. 
From Babu Debendernath Tagore, recommending that pundits from 
Benares should be employed in the publication of the Vedas. 
Minute on the intended publication of the Vedas by the Asiatic Society. 


*) Chaturtha Arunya Gana. Though there are, as will be seen on 
3 reese eee perusing the list of Vedaic manuscripts 
4 Atharva Veda Becirceinn tres specified in the margin® sufficient ma- 
: Pena eas Sanghita. terials, in the library of the Society, 

noostatra. ; * 
7 Atharva PrattangirA Kulpa. wherewith to commence the intended 
8 Atharva Rahasya. publications, yet I am of opinion that, 
3 oe Sanghita, for the reasons mentioned below, without 
r : . 
1 furtin yo etiielna the assistance of Vedaic Pundits who 


12 Arshya Brahmmana, have studied the Vedas regularly as scho- 


—— Os SOS ee ee 


1847.] 


13 Rig Veda. 

14 Rig Veda Prothamastaka. 

15 Rig Veda Brahmmana Punchika. 

16 Rig VedaBrahmmanastaka Punchika. 

17 Rig Veda Soonta Sorton. 

18 Kapistal Sunghita. 

19 Gopatakha Brahmmana Purvardha. 

20 Gopatakha Bréhmmana Prapatakha. 

21 Ditiya Anoostatra. 

22 Ditiya Arunya Gana. 

23 Prathama Veda Gana. 

24 Maddhaudina Sutpatha Brahmmana 
Syasashtaka Prapunchika. 

25 Maitrayani Sakha. 

26 Moitra Baruna Sakha. 

27 Yajur Veda Maddhundina Sakha. 

28 Yajur Veda Satpatha Brahmmana. 

29 Vasa Brahmmana. 

30 Sarbingsa Brahmmana. 

31 Saptadasa Prapatakha. 

32 Sam Vedhana Brahmmana. 

33 Sam Veda Uhagana. 

34 Sam Veda Chhandasa. 

35 Sam Veda T'rayabingsati Prapatakha. 

36 Sam Veda Panchabingsati Prapa- 
takha. R 

37 Gopdtakha Brahmmana of the Athar- 

va Veda. 


that Vedaic Pundits should be procured 


Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 


379 


lars, this very important and valuable 
undertaking of the Society cannot be ex- 
ecuted to our entire satisfaction. Rea- 
son 

Ist, That frequent errors in copies 
are the invariable concomitants of ma- 
Reason 
2nd, That though a multitude of co- 


pies of the Vedas be procured for pur- 


nuscript preparation of works. 


poses of collation, yet the dialect in 
which they were written having in a great 
measure become obsolete and difficult to 
be understood even with the assistance 
of commentaries which are often no less 
obscure than the text, the collation can- 
not be properly made, as its effectual and 
satisfactory execution depends entirely 
upon a profound, critic.l, and scholastic 
acquaintance with that dialect itself. 
Iam therefore decidedly of opinion, 


from Benares, if obtainable there, and 


employed at fixed salaries, in order to assist in the intended publication. 


DEBENDERNATH TAGORE, 
Member of the Oriental Section. 


From Dr. E. Roer on the same subject. 


I take the opportunity also to report my proceedings with regard to the Vedas. I 
would have sent in my report concerning them long before, had it not been my wish 
to furnish the Society with a correct statement of the collections of the Vedas in Cal- 
cutta, which I could not as yet render complete, not having examined the MSS. 
of the Sanscrit College, to which I could not obtain access, the Library of the 
College being closed until Monday next. The Vedaic collections of our Library 
are very defective, and from the accompanying letter of Debendernath Tagore, you 
will perceive, that he believes we cannot procure parts of the Vedas in Caleutta, 
an opinion, which is also held by Radhakant Deb. 
and sufficiently correct MS. of the Sanhita of the Rig or first Vedas (the first 
two parts are now with me) in the Library of Bishop’s College, which has been 


There is however, a complete 


placed at my disposal, and I would propose to print this Sanhita, if we can obtain 
With this 
view I will without delay employ a pundit, who under my superintendence, is to 
With regard to the difficulties attend - 


ing such an edition, as alluded to in Debendernath’s letter, I believe, they are 


the commentary, together with the commentary; if not, without it. 


make a transcript of the MS. in question. 


380 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [MarcH, 


overrated. We should be able to do this here with almost the same success as in 
Kurope, and I will take it upon me to bring this edition through the press, if the 
Society will avail themselves of my services. The language is antiquated only in a few 
grammatical forms, and there are some words out of use at present ; but the lan- 
guage at the same time is simple; (it reminds one of Homer) and very far from the 
elaborative mode of grammatical structure, used at a more recent period. The sug- 
gestion, however, of employing a pundit, who has studied the Vedas at Benares, is 


a good one, as this will much facilitate the work. 
E. Roger. 


Both these letters were referred through the Committee of Papers 
to the Oriental Section. 

From Colonel Sleeman, forwarding a Grammar and Vocabulary of 
the Goond language. 

From Lieutenant Briggs, Seonee, describing an extraordinary rent ef- 
fected in a hill in that district in the month of May last, apparently by 
volcanic agency. 


To the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. 


Sir,— In hopes that the following account of an earthquake, or eruption, which 
occurred in the month of May last, near to the ancient fortress of Mundelah, on 
the banks of the Nerbuddah, may be worthy of perusal, I have the pleasure of 
sending you a description (although a very imperfect one) of what appeared to me 
worthy of remark, after visiting the scene of the phenomenon. : 

About the end of May last, my friend Captain Skene, the Deputy Commissioner 
of the district, received a petition from the Thuseeldar of Mundelah, stating that 
during the night of the 27th May, the inhabitants of the villages situated at the 
foot of the mountain called ‘‘ Dhumah Phai’’ had been thrown into a state of great 
alarm, by a tremendous noise and rumbling in the hill above them; which lasted 
the greater part of the night, and that in the morning they found that the hill ‘* had 
opened”’ and ‘ that trees of immense stature had been engulphed.’’ We were by 
this account much inclined to believe that all this had been merely the effect of a 
landslip, but circumstances putting it in our power to visit the hill—we did so— 
and found our previously formed idea quite erroneous. 

The Dhumah Phai, (which literally translated showld mean the smoky moun- 
tain) is about 500 feet above the level of the plain—rather steep in ascent 
and covered with a thin stratum of earth, with numerous boulders of rocks project- 
ing beyond the inclined plane of the hillside. Although we made every enquiry 
with the object of discovering whether any previous volcanic eruption had been 
the cause of the hill receiving the name of ‘‘ Dhumah’’ we could not find that such 


had been the case, no tradition of the sort being known among the natives; and 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 38h. 


some therefore inclined to believe, that as the Goonds are in the habit of giving 
every eminence a name, this has by chance received the term above mentioned. 

On examining the hill we found that the eruption extends from the bottom to 
about three parts up. The effect of the shock has been to tear out, and push to 
either side, enormous masses of rock ; (many of which have been split by the con- 
vulsion) and turn over trees of large size—conveying to the eye, the exact appear- 
ance asif along mine had been so laid, that when exploded it had completely 
cleared a roadway of about 30 feet in breadth, and five or six in depth, leaving 
merely the bare surface of the rock composing the hill itself, exposed in many 
places; or, as if a gigantic plough had been passed down the mountain oversetting, 

” tearing up, and pushing to either side, every obstacle that opposed it.—Rocks of 
from 20 to 30 feet in circumference, are seen split in half and removed to either 
side the line of eruption, not by any means exhibiting a tendency towards the foot 
of the hill, but appearing as if torn from their original position, and forced to the 
right and left—showing that the direction of the shock was from the interior, and 
not the upper part of the hill, as would have been the effect of a landslip. Indeed 
the position in which trees of large size are found, many of them with their roots 
uppermost, and branches entirely buried in the debris, clearly show that their dis- 
placement was occasioned bya more than natural cause. As many most respectable 
natives testify to the truth of the terrific noises that were heard during the night 
of the 27th May, we can have no reason to doubt this fact. 

However with the most careful search I could find nothing of a volcanic nature 
apparently of a more recent date, than such specimens as are found all over this 
part of Central India. And now Sir, without intruding any idea of my own, as 
to the nature of the convulsion, let me begyour serious (?) consideration of the 
following conclusion at which the learned Thuseeldar has arrived: viz. ‘‘ That the 
earth having become much heated, by the foregoing hot weather, had got fever ; but 
having here opened, the bad matter had been discharged,’’ and there was every 
likelihood of her doing well again ! ! : 

Your’s very truly, 
D. Brices, Lieut. 


Supt. Jubblepore and Kamptee Road, 
Seonee, 25th February, 1847. 


Papers were presented— 

By Mr. Blyth on the species of Wild Sheep. 

By Dr. W. B. O’Shaughnessy on explosive cotton and the results of 
the Artillery trials at Dum-Dum. | 

By Captain Madden, Bengal Artillery—Visit to the Pindree Gla- 
cier. 


Reports were submitted by the Curators in the Geological and Zoo- 
logical Departments. 


# 382 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Marcu, 


Report of the Curator, Museum of Economic Geology, December to 
February. 


I have received, through the Secretary to the Superintendent of 
Marine, the following very curious account of a phenomenon seen at 
sea. It were to be wished that we had many more such observers as 
the intelligent young officer who has given us this interesting note, for 
there is no doubt that these appearances are either indications of some 
extensive action going on, volcanic or electric, or of remarkable abun- 
dance of luminous animalcule, and of which, if any of the water has» 
been preserved, we may obtain some indices by chemical examination. 
I have written to Mr. Pearson and to Captain Biden, Master Attendant 
of Madras, requesting both to use their best endeavours to obtain for 
us specimens of the water, for I should suppose it impossible that some 
has not been preserved, since the ship must have carried a Surgeon who 
certainly should have done this. ! 


No. 2310. 
Yo H. PippineTon, Esq. 


Sir,—I have the honour by direction of the Offg. Superintendent of Marine, to 
forward for your information, the accompanying copy of a letter from Mr. George 
F. Pearson, Cadet of Infantry, Madras Presidency, dated the 27th ultimo, and of my 
reply thereto dated yesterday. 


I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your most obedient Servant, 
Jas. SUTHERLAND, 
Fort William, Secretary. 
Marine Supdt.’s Office, 11th June, 1846. 
Ship Hashemy, May 21st, 1846. 

My pear Si1r,—In Lat. 37° 42’ South, Long. 28° 48’ East, being on board the 
barque Hashemy bound from London to Madras, we fell in with the following pheno- 
menon in the sea, which perhaps may prove of some interest to you. 

On the 17th of April in the above Lat. and Long. about 9 hrs. 45 min. (civil 
time) Pp. M. the surface of the sea became covered with what appeared to be a thick 
foam of a sparkling white appearance. This continued, being at intervals more or 
less bright and sparkling till near midnight. It seemed to exist in large patches 
over the sea, and when the appearance was at its height the passage of the vessel 
through the water could be compared to nothing else than if it were being borne 
through beds of driven snow. 


1847.] : Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 383 


During the phenomenon the Barometer was depressed ;2, of an inch, and a 
thick black cloud hang over the vessel, which circumstances will] think indicate 
the presence of a large body ef electricity in the atmosphere. I should likewise men- 
tion that the wind, which for two days had been very light, indeed at times almost 
calm, three quarters of an hour before the first appearance, shifted from N. N. E. 
into N. W. from which quarter it biewa steady breeze till morning, when it died 
away into a light air. 

On the afternoon of the same day several persons had perceived and actually talk- 
ed about a dry kind of sulphureous smell in the atmosphere, wondering from whence 
it could procced ; was it net possible then that as the appearance was very much that 
of a gaseous vapeur rising through the water, it might have been the effect of some 
submarine Volcano, the foaming appeurance being caused by the fumes of sulphur 
rising through the water ? 

I had a bucket full of the water drawn up, some of which I put in a tumbler and 
tasted. It had a very bright sparkling appearance as of the purest spring water, 
but I could net discern any difference in its taste from common sea water. 

In looking over Horsburgh’s work I perceive that vessels have occasionally fallen 
in with a similar appearance, though if I could judge from his account, on a smaller 
scale. Surely it must have been something of this sort which vessels have mistaken 
for shoal water even when they could obtain no soundings. Hence the Telemachus 
Shoal and many others whose existence appears very doubtful. 

Knowing the interest the Marine Board take in circumstances of this kind, 1 trast 
the extraordinary and interesting nature of this phenomenon may be sufficient apo- 
logy for the liberty one, who is about to enter another profession of a very different 
nature, now takes in addre«sing you. 

I remain, &c., 


(Signed) Gro. F Prarson, 
Cadet of Infantry, 
Palaveram, May 27th, 1846. Madras Presidency. 


Major D. Williams of Kyeuk Phyoo has sent to usa small box of 
the minerals and earths ejected by the recent-cruption of the Mud 
Voleano near the station. Upon examination I find them to consist 
exactly of the same kind as before. (Proceedings of October 1843), 
namely, grey indurated mud and shale, with black shaley masses, carbo- 
nate of lime fibrous and semi-crystallised, and Iron Pyrites. 

Our active contributor Dr. Spilsbury, sends us from Bundlecund 

12 Specimens Trap Rocks of various kinds. 

1 Of the Copper ore from Sahghur reported on before. 

20 Specimens of fossils of various kinds. 

5 Specimens of the fine coal from Lameter Ghat. 
3K 


’ 


384 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Marcu, 


We have received from our able contributor Lieut. Sherwill, of the 
Shahabad Revenue Survey, his splendid map of that district, which fully 
equals the former one, and he has added to it also some notes which, 
together with his magnificent collection of specimens (noticed in report 
of November 1845, when the present map and notes were promised), are 
like the former on Zillah Behar, unequalled by any contribution yet sent 
to the Society, as the fruit of the labours of a public officer in a most 
active department, yet finding time to combine with them, and to add 
so highly to their value, such researches. In reference to these maps I 
have to submit for the orders of the Secretary and the Society the fol- 
lowing letters. 


No. 61. 
To H. Pippineton, Esq. 

Sir,—As I am desirous of having the Geological maps of Zillah Behar, and the 
southern portion of Zillah Shahabad lithographed in the Government Press, and 
as the original of these records are in your possession, I shall feel obliged by your 
making them over to me, at your earliest convenience, for the purpose specified 
above. 

2nd. One lithographic impression of each map will be duly made over to you 
when received from the press. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your most obedient Servant, 
H. L. Tuauriuier, 
Ofg. Deputy Surveyor General. 
Supt. of Revenue Survey’s Office, 
Calcutta, the 6th March, 1847. 


Capt. H. L. Tuurtiier, Offy. Deputy Surveyor General. 

Sir,—In reply to your letter of this date, 6th, I beg to say that the maps in ques- 
tion are presented to the Asiatic Society for the Museum of Economic Geology. 

2. Major Wroughton took a copy of the Geological map of Zillah Behar, which 
is no doubt in your office. 

3. That of Zillah Shahabad will be submitted to the Society at its meeting on 
the 10th, when I will not fail to take the orders of the Secretary and the Society 
concerning it. There can be no objection, but on the contrary great advantage in 
having these valuable labours of Captain Sherwill’s made as public as possible, but 
the originals I apprehend must eventually remain with us. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 
(Signed) H. PippineTon, 
Museum, 8th March, 1847. Cur. Mus. Eco. Geology. 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 385 


No. 63. 
From Lieut. H. L. Tauirurer, Offy. Deputy Surveyor General, 
To H. Pippineron, Esg. Curator Museum Economic Geology. 

Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated 8th 
inst. and with reference to the 2nd Paragraph, beg to state, that a Copy of the Geo- 
logical Map of Zillah Behar is in my office, but, as it is necessary whenever any 
map is to be lithographed, to take the exact impression from the original if possible, 
I trust the Society will not object to my being supplied with both the maps, execut- 
ed by Captain Sherwill, for the purpose above specified. 

2. Onthe Maps being lithographed, the Originals shall be returned, together 
with one Colored Impression of each of the Districts. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your most obedient Servant, 
H. L. THut.cier, 


Supt. Revenue Survey’s Office, Off. Deputy Surveyor General. 
Caleutta, 9th March, 1847. 


I have put into the form of a paper for the Journal the examination 
of a new Carbonaceous Mineral, which I have named Tremenheerite. 
It is a variety of the Anthracine, but neither Anthracite nor Plumbago, 
and is thus well entitled to a separate name. 


(Signed) H. Prppineron, 
Cur. Mus. Eco. Geology. 


Report of the Curator, Museum of Zoology. 

My Report for this evening’s meeting is more brief than usual ; and 
so much time has been expended during the past month in setting up the 
skin of the Giraffe, that I have but asmall collection of other mounted 
specimens to exhibit. The donations for the museum are as follow :— 


1. G. H. Bushby, Esq., Secretary to Government. A living specimen of a 
Marmot (Arctomys bobac, Pallas, v. tibetanus, Hodgson), from Sikim. ‘This little 
animal is not more than a third grown, is quite tame, and seems likely to bear the 
difference of climate, as it does not appear to be incommoded by the heat. 

2. G. T. Lushington, Esq., of Almorah. Two skins of the Tibetan Fox (Vulpes 
nipalensis, as erroneously designated by Mr. Gray). 

3. D.C. Money, Esq. A specimen of a Nilotic Crocodile (Crocodilus vulgaris), 
taken near Thebes, and quite distinct from Cr. palustris, Lesson, of the Ganges, &c., 
which is regarded as a mere variety of the same by MM. Dumeril and Bibron. The 
length of this specimen is 10 feet; and we have stuffed examples of Cr. palustris 
and Cr. biporcatus, of the same length, from the neighbourhood of Calcutta. 

Also a mummied Ibis, the skeleton of which will perhaps bear setting up. 

4. R. Templeton, Esq., M. D., of Colombo. A further collection of Cinghalese 

3 E 2 


386 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. {[Marcu, 


birds, comprising a new Tephrodornis, and a Phyllornis which 1 cannot satisfactori- 
ly determine. PA. Jerdoni is common on the island, and I lately observed this species 
in considerable abundance in the Midnapore jungles; as also Pynonotus flavirictus, 
which is another common inhabitant of Ceylon; but neither of them inhabits the 
valley of the Ganges.* In this collection, | may notice also Parus cinereus, Vieil- 
lot (v. aériceps, Horsf.), identical with specimens from Java, the Himalaya, and 
from central and southern India; and Bucco rubricapillus, Gmelin, distinct from 
the common JB. indicus, and more nearly allied to the Malabar species referred to 


B. barbiculus, Cuv., in XV, 13, but which I now think distinct, and have termed: 


B. malabaricus. 

5. R. W. G. Frith, Esq. A huge specimen of the variety of the common domestic 
fowl, known as Gallus giganteus ; a specific name which, I think, is inadmissible. 

Also the skull of a Dolphin taken on the voyage out to India, which is all 
that I have been able to learn of its history. It agrees with the figure of Delphinus 
delphis, Linn., in the ‘ Ossemens Fossiles,’ except that there is no trace of lateral 
constriction towards the base of the upper maxilla, and the teeth exceed fifty on 
each side above {amvunting to fifty-three on the right side), and may be put down 
as fifty on either side below ; this exceeds the extreme number hitherto observed in 
D. delphis (verus), and in no other species of true Delphinus described by M. Fred. 
Cuvier, are the teeth nearly so numerous.f 

6. C. S. Bonnevie, Esq., of Rungpore. A large collection of Darjeeling birds, 
from which I have been permitted to select any required for the musuem, and 
the rest are to be forwarded to that of the Christiania University. Among 
those selected for our own collection may be mentioned Emberiza pusilla, 
Tehitrea affinis, Muscicapula McGreygoria, (Burton,—the female of which is 
Leiothrix signata, M’Clelland and Horsfield, and Niltava auricularis, Hodgson), 
M. sapphira, foem., Zanthia flavolivacea (p. 133, ante), Pnoépyya squamata, Tesia 
eyaniventer (var. auriceps, Hodg., p. 137, ante), T. castaneo-coronata, Culicipeta 
(seu Abrornis) poliogenys, n. s., Drymoica brevicaudata, n. s., Stachyris ruficeps, 
n. 8., Ixulus occipitalis, Minla cinerea, n. s., Proparus ehrysotis (it should be 
chrysopterus,) m. and f., Myzornis pyrrhoura, Erpornis zantholeuca, and Cer- 
thia discolor,—for the most part, particularly five specimens { Also a collection of 
Darjeeling Lepidoptera, from which a few good specimens have been selected. 


* Oriolus melanocephalus, so very commoniu Bengal, seems to be equally so in Ceylon, 
though in most parts of the peninsula of India, I believe it is of rare occurrence. Many 
other species are equally common in Ceylon and Lower Bengal: and Mulacocercus terri- 
color of Bengal, Assam, Nepal, and Orissa, is barely separable from M, striatus, Sw., 
of Ceylon. Indeed, coupling it with the fact of the deep colouring of Acridotheres tristis 
in Ceylon (XV. 314), and that of the representative of Corvus splendens being there black, 
though differing in no other respect, I question whether we are justified in considering 
M. terricolor to be really different from M. striatus. 

+ In XV, 368, for “ Delphinorhynchus rostratus, F. Cuv.” read “ D, frontatus. F. Cuv.” 

} The novelties in this collection have been described and are incorporated in the con- 
tinuation of my paper on ‘ New and Little Known Species of Birds.’ 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 387 


7. Mr. E. Lindstedt. Several specimens of snakes. 

8. Mr. T. C. Madge. A specimen of the common hammer-headed Shark of the 
mouth of the river. Sphyrna Blochii, (Val.), v. Zygena laticeps, Cantor. 

9. Lieut. Blagrave, 26th N. 1. A few bird skins from the Upper Provinces. 

10. W.C. Hurry, Esq. A number of living beetles, which, at this season, are 
extremely destructive to various flowers, &c., in the gardens around Calcutta. The 
species is widely distributed over the country, and is nearly allied to the well known 
Turnip-fly of England (Haltica nemorum) ; but I have no immediate means of de- 
termining it more exactly. 

Among the few stuffed specimens, will be observed a Monkey from the Cape de 
Verd Islands (Cercopithecus sabeus): some undescribed Squirrels, and with them 
the §. tristriatus, Waterhouse, which I found in the vicinity of Midnapore, and 
have since received from Ceylon; the voice of this little animal being extremely 
unlike that of Se. palmarum, which I found inhabiting the same places. Also a 
new Jungle-fowl, from Ceylon, Gallus lineatus, nobis: end a fine Cobra, 9 feet 
long, the Hamadryas hannah, Cantor, As. Kes. XIX, 87, (1836 ;) being also the 
_H. ophiophagus, Cantor, P. Z. §. 1838, p. 72, and Nata vittata of Mr. Elliot, 
Madr. Journ. No. XXVI, 39, as identified by that naturalist with Dr. Cantor’s 
reptile in the following No. of the same Journal, p. 390. 

March 9th, 1847. E. Biyru., 


Books received during the month of Feb. for the meeting of the 10th March, 1847. 
PRESENTED. 


Meteorological Register for January, 1847.—From Tue Surveyor GENERAL’S 
OFFICE. 

Ditto ditto, kept at Kyouk Phyoo during the month of January, 1847.—From 
THE SECRETARY TO THE SUPERINTENDANT OF MARINE. 

The Horn Book of Storms, for the Indian and China seas, third Edition.—By 
H. PippinerTon, Esa. 

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. XVII.—By tut Society. 

Archeologia; Vol 31.—By Tue Society or ANTIQuarrEs or Lonvon. 

Histcria Abbadidarum ; Praemissis Scriptorum Arabum de ea Dynastia Locis 
nunc. Primum Editis. Auctore R. P. A. Dozy. Vol. Prius.—By Toe Curators 
oF THE ACADEMY OF LEIDEN. 

The Oriental Christian Spectator, Vol. VIIT. No. 2nd.—By tur Eniror. 

The Calcutta Christian Observer, for March, 1847.—By Tue Epirors, 

R. Griffin & Co.’s Catalogue of Books and Stationary.—-By R. Grirrin & Co. 

Statement of Facts relative to the transactions between the writer and the late 
British Political Mission to the Court of Shoa, in Abyssinia, by C. T. Beke, Esq.— 
By tHe AuTHor. 

A grammar of the Tahitian dialect of the Polynesian Language.—By run 


Rev, J. Lone. 


388 Proceedings of the dsiatic Society. [Marcu, 


Biblical and Theological Vocabulary in English and Bengali.—By THE SAME. 

Dr. Carey’s grammar of the Burman Language.—By THE SAME. 

Bhagavat Gita, textum recensuit at notationes criticas et interpretationem Lati- 
nam adjecet G. Schlegel ; Editio altra auctior et emendatior cura Christiani Lasseni., 
—By rue Epiror. 

Kal’ba, Kena, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, and Vajsaneya Oopani- 
shads.— By Basu RAJENDRALAL Mittra. 

EXCHANGED. 
The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, Nos. 196—7. 
Transactions of the Geological Society of London, Vol. VII.—part 3rd 


PURCHASED. 
Journal des Savans, Octobre 1846. 
The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, for December, 1846. 


The Lord Bishop having retired and Mr. Bushby taken the chair. 

_ Mr. Hume rose and said there was a passage in the report lately 

published to which he wished to call attention. ‘Regarding Dr. 
Cantor’s very beautiful drawings, the Secretaries have failed to obtain 
some essential information, and which they cannot hope for before Mr. 
Torren’s expected visit to Calcutta in the ensuing month. The Com- 
mittee of Papers confidently hope that in connexion with the Journal 
nearly the whole of Dr. Cantor’s drawings will be published by the 
Society within a moderate period.’ He wished to ask if the informa- 
tion alluded to had been obtained. Further, on turning to the accounts 
he found that 2561 Rs. had already been spent on the Cantor draw- 
ings. He supposed that the accounts published with the Report were 
passed and beyond discussion, but he desired to be informed how many 
of these drawings were actually completed, and whether vouchers were 
forthcoming for the sums paid. He wanted a direct answer, a plain 
yes or no, to these questions. 

Dr. O'Shaughnessy, (Senior Secretary present) replied that had Mr. 
Hume given any notice of his intention to ask these questions precise 
answers would have been in readiness. He regretted Mr. Hume had not 
started the discussion at the meeting regularly fixed for the considera- 
tion of the Report. He objected to Mr. Hume’s categorical mode of ques- 
tioning, as one uncalled for and unnecessary among aSociety of gentlemen, 
whose only desire could be to aid each other in every enquiry calculated 
for the Society’s benefit Dr. O'Shaughnessy proceeded to observe 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 389 


that the accounts were now printed for the first time since 1842. They 
were printed for general information, and although they had doubtless 
‘been submitted to regular meetings every year by his distinguished 
predecessor, still the Society at large had had no opportunity of examin- 
ing them, and he considered every item fairly open to investigation. 
As to the number of Dr. Cantor's drawings completed, he believed it 
to be 13 or 14. Mr. Muller, the accountant, could say whether vouchers 
were in existence or not. He however begged permission to disclaim 
all responsibility for himself or his colleague Mr. Laidlay for any of the 
expenditure on account of the “Burnes or Cantor drawings,” all of 
which had been entered upon previous to his election, and all further 
outlay upon which had been stopped on his suggestion, on his taking 
charge of the office. Mr. Piddington was at the time the executive 
officer of the Society in the arrangements made, and that gentleman 
could of course give any explanation required. He had only to add 
with reference to the intention of the Committee to publish the Cantor 
drawings in connexion with the Journal, that it was intended that any 
such cost should be included in the sum of 350 Rs. monthly set apart 
for that periodical. 

Mr. Muller stated that on his being appointed accountant in July, 
in succession to Mr. Bolst, he found the papers of the Society in such 
confusion that he had the utmost difficulty in bringing them into any 
order. The vouchers he received were all without number or classi- 
fication. He could not speak positively as to the existence of vouchers 
for the payments now under discussion, but at the next meeting he 
would be prepared with every information on this subject. 

Mr. Blyth, Curator in the Zoological Department, begged permission 
to disavow all responsibility regarding the publication of the Burnes’ 
drawings, which he looked upon as equally discreditable as works of art 
and in a scientific point of view. He had never been consulted as to 
their publication, although from his office in the Society his advice might 
have been naturally looked for. 

Mr. Piddington, on being called upon, said that the history of the 
Burnes’ drawings was, briefly, that being sent to the Society from Go- 
vernment, their publication was determined upon by the Society at a 
regular meeting, and a Committee named, of which he had been Secreta- 
ry, to superintend the work, he being at that time only a member and not 


390 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. (Manca, 


an officer of the Society. The estimates and report of that Committee 
were duly sanctioned and approved of by the Society, and reports of 
progress were from time to time made and confirmed ; all of which 
would be found in the proceedings of those years. The coloured plates 
were also exhibited with these reports, and unequivocally pronounced 
to be most ereditable to the artists, as exact copies of the drawings, 
which together with the determination that the whole of the drawings 
were to be published, and not a selection from them, was the principle 
adopted by the Committee and confirmed by the Society. Whatever 
then had been done was the act of the Society and of no one individual. 
With respect to Dr. Cantor’s Chusan drawings, the superintendance 
of part of these also had failen under his management when Sub- 
Secretary. He was unable to say by what authority this undertaking 
had been commenced, but he received orders from the late Secretary, 
Mr. Torrens, to obtain estimates, and no bargain was concluded without 
his full knowledge and approbation ; it being simply his (Mr. Pidding- 
ton’s) duty to carry on the Society’s work as ordered by the Secretary. 
Dr. Cantor, himself a first rate artist, had pronounced his highest ap- 
probation of the style in which his work had been so far reproduced as 
exceeding any thing he supposed could have been done in Calcutta, as 
had also the late Dr. Griffiths. With respect to the charges, it was 
impossible for him to do more than to state generally that the colouring 
of plates of drawings of Natural History, was always most expensive, and 
that all other accessaries also were required to be of the first rate talent 
and quaiity procurable, and to this was to be attributed the high charges 
for these works, if they really were high, which he did not think they 
were. As to the gross amount charged in the account, of that he could 
not speak, having, as he desired expressly to state, no control whatsoever 
over the expenditure or payment, farther than to audit bills, but the whole 
of the estimates and every paper connected with these publications had 
been specially and most carefully made over by him to the late Secretary 
in March last, and these, together with the accountant’s vouchers for 
payments ought to be forthcoming. 

The original drawings and sets of the lithographed copies were now 
produced by the Librarian and handed round for examination of the 
members. 


Mr. Hume then observed that examination of the drawings and 


ee ee 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 391] 


lithographs confirmed him in the belief that the funds of the Society 
had been most improvidently wasted. The sets of Cantor’s collection 
had cost Rs. 2561, being 183 Rs. each set-—now he had much experience 
in the expense of lithographs, and would pledge himself to produce 
plates infinitely superior to those now before the Society at the cost of 
from 5 to 10 Rupees per 100. Whether vouchers were forthcoming or 
not was now of no consequence. The money had been irrecoverably lost, 
but to guard against future extravagance of this kind he proposed, that, 
“no future outlay take place for drawings of any kind without regular 
estimates being in the first place submitted to and approved by a general 
meeting.” 

Dr. O’ Shaughnessy having seconded the resolution it was unani- 
mously carried, 


We must not allow the present occasion to pass without adverting 
to the highly interesting lecture on the Buddhistical remains of Gyah 
and its neighbourhood, delivered in the Society’s hall, on the 31st ult. 
by Capt. Kittoe. As the substance of the lecture is contained in the 
various papers handed to the Secretaries by that gentleman for publi- 
cation in the Journal, it is unnecessary to give any more extended 
notice of it here; but we may mention that there was a goodly attend- 
ance of both members and strangers, who appeared much gratified 
with the instruction and entertamment of the evening. We trust that 
Capt. Kittoe’s good example will be followed by others whose researches 
admit of communication in the same agreeable form. 


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JOURNAL 


OF THE 


ee Pe SO erTrTy 


MAY, 1847. 


LID 
o—eerrn™ ares MARADRADRAAARMNAADAM 


An Account of the Temple of Trivent near Hugli, by D. Money, Esq. 
Bengal Civil Service. 


As in-architecture the superstructure depends upon the foundation, 
so in examination of ruins that time has made and spared, and in the 
attempt to elicit something of their earlier origin and history, how 
dependent are our conclusions upon the data that present themselves, 
and how difficult where these are slight and imperfect to form a satis- 
factory opinion ! 

The Temple of Triveni is shrouded in mystery, which legendary 
tale in the absence of historical fact cannot solve. Of its early date 
we know nothing. It is perhaps the most interesting ruin in Bengal, 
whether with reference to its present appearance or its past associations. 
About five miles from Hugli it stands on the most elevated spot in the 
neighbourhood, commanding a view of the river, which winds at a 
little distance beneath it. The temple originally must have occupied 
a large space and consisted of 3 or 4 Courts. On ascending two or 
three broken steps to the first Court you perceive on your right a part 
of the original temple, consisting of two rooms, of which there remain 
only the massy walls that enclose them and the doors by which you 
enter. You are struck at once with the solidity of the masoury, which 
but for Mahomedan aggression and Mahomedan sacrilege would have 

No. V. New SeErizs. 3K 


394 An Account of the Temple of Trivent near Hugh. {May, 


defied till now the ravages of time. There is something Egyptian in 
the appearance of the doors, the sides inclining a little inwards towards 
the top, but this has been caused I think by a displacement of the 
stone-work. Each side is formed of one stone about 9 feet high, with 
a serpentine anaglyph running down the centre. From the first room 
a window looks out towards the river, on the outside of which there is 
a little ornamental engraving very light and chaste. A Mahomedan 
tomb desecrates one of the rooms, the inscription on which presents a 
passage in the history of the temple. Separated from the Court at a 
little distance is another Ruin of the original Temple of a different 
character. Here asin the other the hand of the invader and destroyer 
has been at work, and the demolition and displacement of the original 
masonry, the subsequent patchwork, and the superadded dome, are 
evidences of the ruthless and fanatical spirit, which marked in every 
clime and through every era, ere the power of the Crescent waned, its 
desolating course. The original Peelpye pillars in this temple are 
standing, and some of the stones in the outer walls have the appearance 
of an earlier date. On one of them is an inscription in Devanagree, 
which could not be decyphered. Mr. Marshman thinks this temple 
was built about 300 years ago by a Raja of Orissé, Mukund Deb. It 
is with great diffidence I would venture to dissent from so good an 
authority, but there are facts which go far to show, as well as the 
appearance of the ruins, that its erection must have been at a much 
anterior date. I have alluded to an imscription upon a Mahomedan 
tomb. In this tomb was buried Zafir Khan, called by the Hindus 
Darap Khan, and the inscription which I annex with the translation, 
gives the date Hijeerah 713, or A. D. 1297. 


paw 3 yaad WT nose!) sibel Qype aed al) bo Utell job 
Usie gablll s Syle!l onae galls gst] is pi IIe! 
whe, aloe) ple alll yabl GU ab dome 12 all Gb y 

# balarsw ye eld Bh yd) Cabaell pps ye us! PALO 


“ By the order of the titled, beneficent, most worthy, bestowing good 
rewards, the protector of the Mahomedan faith, the most famous among men, 


1847.) An Account of the Temple of Trivent near Hugli. 395 


a bright star of justice and religion, the defender of Kings and Princes, the 
protector of the faithful, Khan Mahamud Zafir Khan. God grant him victory 
against his enemies and bless his Race on the 1st Mohurum seven hundred 
and thirteen Hijeerah.”’ 

The following is a translation of the Khurseenamah preserved by the 
Khadems attached to the tomb, two of whom are appointed as Muta- 
wulees by the Court of the Sudder Nizamut Adawlut and hold Rent- 
free lands in Nuddea and Hugli. ‘Shah Zafir Khan Gauzee, accom- 
panied by his nephew (sister’s side) Shah Soofee, leaving his connections 
at Mundgaun, Pergunnah Konwar Portup, Chaklah Muksoosabad, came 
to Bengal for the purpose of converting infidels to the Mahomedan 
faith. Having made a proselyte of Raja Man Nriputi, he was killed in 
a battle fought with Raja Bhoodev at Hugli. His head was left on the 
field and his body was buried at Triveni. Ugwhan Khan, son of the 
aforesaid Shah Zafir Khan Ghazee, having marched against the Raja 
of Hugli in Sircar Satgram, conquered him, converted the infidels to 
Mahomedanism, and married his daughter. After some time Ugwhan 
Khan also died at Triveni. The descendants of the Khanzadeh are still 
in existence. The title of Khan was conferred by Feroze Shah.” 
At Pundooa there is a mosque or monument.of Shah Soofee, who 
was nephew of Feroze Shah of Delhi, and the Aymadars claim the 
Rent-free Kuisbah as descendants. They hold a document from which 
it appears that their title has existed for 500 years. This corresponds 
with the date of the inscription on Zafir Khan’s tomb and is good 
evidence that Zafir Khan and Shah Soofee were contemporaries. His- 
tory is silent as to the professed object of the visit of these two con- 
nections of the royal family of Delhi to this part of Bengal, and the 
chasm is not supplied by the following legend. A Mahomedan subject 
of a Hindu Raja on a certain festival in honor of his son used cow’s 
flesh. The Raja slew the son. The father resorted to the Court of 
Delhi and told his tale to Feroze Shah, who immediately sent an army 
to Bengal against the Raja, commanded by Zafir Khan and his nephew 
Shah Soofee. The Raja’s name was Bhoodev Nriputi, with whom a 
battle was fought at a place called Mahanud near Satgram, about 8 
miles west of Triveni, where Zafir Khan’s army was victorious. There 
is another curious legend connected with Zafir Khan. He was in 


spite of his hostility to the Hindoos and the doseeaee of their Re} 
F 2 


396 An Account of the Temple of Trivent near Ttugh. [ May, 


looked upon as a Boozoorg, or a man of divine inspiration, and is said 
to have worshipped Gunga. She smiled on the apostate devotee, and 
on one occasion so wrapt was he in devotion, that she rose from her 
liquid bed like 

‘¢ Another Venus breathing fresh and fair 


A goddess sparkling in her wavy dress,”’ 


and overpowered him by fascination of her charms. Such was the effect 
of her influence over his spirit that he forgot the Koran for the Shas- 
ters, and in the ecstacy of the beatific vision the full tide of his aspi- 
rations rolled in Sanserit shlokes instead of Persian verse. This is a 
remarkable but melancholy instance of the weakness of faith against 
the potency of love. The champion of a fanatical creed, with sword 
in hand, is caught like the God of war in the net work of beauty. The 
Sanscrit shlokes he composed are remembered and repeated to this 
day. They are called the shlokes of Durap Khan, and there is scarce. 
ly a clever pundit in India who does not know them. The follow- 
ing is selected as a specimen. 


gcufa afaad cee yaaa a acfa form” wa 
faa wea | afe a afafedit ace: attas at ata aa 
HUM CHEM ATH || 


«Oh! Suradhuni Gunga, the daughter of Janhoo Muni, what will be thy 
greatness if thou wilt bestow salvation on the virtuous, who are saved by 
their own merits!—If thou bestowest salvation on me, who am a helpless 
wretch, I would then proclaim thy glory to the highest extremity.” 


This religious metamorphoses in Zafir Khan must have had an effect 
on his son Ugwhan Khan, for he married the Raja of Hugli’s daughter. 
She was buried within the precincts of the temple, where her tomb is 
still standing. It has crumbled to the ground, and there is no in- 
scription to point it out. But a curious custom marks the spot. Hin- 
doo votive offerings are presented there on Mahomedan festivals. 

The date of the Arabic inscription on Zafir Khan’s tomb, the 
Khurseenamah of the Khadems, and the statement of the Aymadars of 
Shah Soofee’s tomb at Pundooa, correspond nearly with the following 


1847.] dn Account of the Temple of Trivent near Hugh. 397 


account given by Ferishteh of Feroze Togluk of Dehli (vide Brigg’s 
translation of Ferishteh, page 334, vol. IV.). 

«On the death of Shamsooddeen, the nobles of the state elevated 
his eldest son to the throne three days afterwards. He had not long 
entered on his rule before his country was again invaded in the year 
A. H. 760, or A. D. 1358, by Feroze Togluk of Dehli.’ The next 
passage isa curious coincidence. “ When the Dehli army arrived at 
Pandwah, Sikunder Poorby, following his father’s example, took refuge 
in the fortress of Yekdullah, &c.”? This Fercze Shah must have been 
one of the Afghan Sultans of Hindoostan of 3d Turk Dynasty, whe 
ascended the throne of Dehli about 1351 A.D. Zafir Khan may have 
been brother-in-law to Feroze Shah. Ne was uncle by the mother’s 
side of Shah Soofee, and Shah Soofee was nephew of Feroze Shah. 
Could he also have been the father of Ababek Shah, who mounted the 
throne of Dehliin 1389? His father’s name was Zafir Khan. The 
next question is who was Raja Man Nriputi converted to the Musal- 
man faith by Zafir Khan? Was he one of the Rajas of Orissa, the 
limits of which territory extended till two centuries after as far north 
as Trivent. Mr. Marshman in his history of Bengal states as follows :— 

«The powerful kings of Orissa had previously extended their con- 
quest in Bengal; and hence the Oriyahs boast that their kingdom once 
extended to Triveni on the Bhageerutee. In the year 1550 Telenga 
Mookund Deb ascended the throne of Orissa. He was the last inde- 
pendent king of that country; he founded a ghat and temple at the 
sacred spot of Triveni which formed the northern boundary of his 
dominions.”’ Compare Asiatic Researches, page 164, Vol. XV. ‘‘ During 
the sway of the princes of the Gungabun’s line, for a period of nearly 
four centuries, the boundaries of the Raja of Orissa may be stated as 
follows; with sufficient accuracy for a good description. North, a line 
drawn from Triveni Ghat above Hugli, through Bisherpore to the 
frontier of Putkun, east, the river Hugli and the sea south, the Goda- 
veri or Gunga Godaveri, and west, a line carried from Singbhoom to 
Sonepur.” 

If Raja Man Nriputi was not one of the Rajas of Orissa, it is pro- 
bable that both he and Raja Bhoo Dev may have been zemindars con. 
nected with the royal family of Orissa, as they appear to have been 
chiefs of some consequence, or else tributary to that power. Their 


398 An Account of the Temple of Trevent near Hugli. [May, 


names are not among the Hindoo kings of either the Sen or Pal 
dynasty. 

Within the first part of the temple on some of the stones are the 
following inscriptions in the Nagree character. 
alata faa: ahaa The residence of Sita. The co- 
Sri Sité Nidhdsah, Sri Ramabhisheka- \ ronation of Rama 
wigre : t Coronation. This seems to be part of 
Bhisheka. another inscription (incomplete). 


PCTAT Tsay Tay i Ravéna killed by Rama. 


Sri Ramena Ravana Badha. 
atat faarz: 

Sita Bivaha. 

HaTGu: 

Kangsa Badha. 

ah Oa i \ 


The marriage of Sita. 
The distruction of Kangsa. 


Chonura Radha. The destruction of Chanura. 


PAMUUCSCHTE: The war between Krishna and 
Sri Krishna Vana Surayor Yuddha. Van Raja. 


vere et tee iy These are names of the consorts of 
Yl u yumna ya asanay ya ya A : ; 
Gea Krishna’s grandson Pradyumna. 


There are also near the northern and eastern entrances images of 
some of the Hindoo gods, such as Narasingha, Varaha, Rama, Krishna, 
Lucshmi, &c. &c., most of them much defaced. The stones with the 
inscriptions were probably placed below some of these deities or others’ 
that have been destroyed, and as these deities are peculiar to the wor- 
ship of Vishnu, it is most likely that the temple was consecrated to 
that deity. The stones containing the inscriptions are evidently out of 
their places. There is no regularity in their location, and one or two 
of them have the wrong side uppermost. From these appearances as 
well as others already mentioned, it is clear that the building is not now 
in its original state, and that formerly it must have been one Hindoo 
temple. The literal signification of Triveni is “ three streams,’’ in 
allusion to the river Gungd, Jumna, and Saruswati held sacred by the 
Hindoos. The spots where these rivers meet and where they separate 
are considered holy, and on this account the Shastras enjoin that expia- 
tory ablutions should be particularly performed at these places. 

According to Hindoo tradition there are two Trivenis, one at Prayag 


1847.| An Account of the Temple of Trivent near Hugli. 399 


er Allahabad, called Joocta Veni, on account of the junction of these 
streams, and the other Moocta Veni near Hugli, on account of their 
separation. 

At the latter place the Jumna separates and takes its course eastward 
near Gustia’s Khal or Bagur Khal, about a mile from Triveni, round the 
villages Jaguli, Beeroie, &c. and uniting afterwards with the rivers Chota 
Durga and Bura Durga in the Sunderbuns, ultimately joins the bay of 
Bengal. The Saruswati takes its course on the western bank to the 
Ganges round the villages Triveni, Supta-grama or Satgaun, Hossen- 
bazar, &c. &c. and branching out from the creek at Sankhral near 
Budge Budge, joins the river Hugli and flows into the bay of Bengal. 

Alluvian accretions have nearly choked up the bed and diverted the 
course of the Jumna, and it is now almost dry and not navigable by 
boats. But it is a fact, which has been [ believe clearly ascertained, 
that in former times the main branch of this river flowed under the 
walls of Satgaun by Amtah and Tumlook into the Ocean, and that 
ships of large size came up to Satgaun, which was then famous for its 
commerce. The Saruswati is only navigable in the rains. The vari- 
ous wild mythological Hindoo traditions of the sources of these sacred 
streams must have given additional sanctity to Triveni. 

The following shloke from the Muha Bharata, points out the locality 
of this sacred spot :— 


UTaq ANA VCeaTAUe | cefau yaw WHTAT 
AAMAAT | PATA AA YW GAIL Wea | 


“On the south of Pradyumna Nagara, north of the river Saruswati, is the 
Dukshin Prayaga, or south Prayaga, where the river Jumna separates from 
the Gunga, ‘This place is equal (tn point of holiness) to north Prayaga (Alla- 
| habad), and imperishable virtue may be attained by means of bathing here.” 


The celebrated Raghununduna, the compiler of Smriti Shastras or 
~ Hindoo Laws, whose doctrines or religious rites are strictly observed 
by almost all the natives of Bengal, refers to the spot in the Prayas- 
chittya Tutwa, or book treating on the expiation of sins. 


efea ya SHAR aM SHaTATSy cfaaey | 


“The south Prayag called the Moocta-Veni, is situated in the southern 
part (of Bengal) near Supta-grama.” 


400 An Account of the Temple of Trivent near Hugh. [May, 


Satgaun or Supta-grama, must also have contributed to the sanctity 
of Triveni. It was not only famous for its commerce in the palmy 
days of Rome, but it was here the seven wise men of the east, the 
Supta Rishis or Munis, renowned for their piety as well as their wis- 
dom, resided, and in the plantain groves, or on the banks of the sacred 
stream, worshipped the river goddess. The Hindoos believe that they 
came with Gunga from Hardwar to establish her worship at this place. 
Their names were Marichi, Angira, Atre, Pulastya, Pulata, Crutu, and 
Vashishta. Supta-grama was so called from the seven sages having 
resided there. Their worship of Gunga is referred to in the following 
extract from the Maha Bhagbut Pooran. 


qq aud dha asi Saqenai | wee ste ara 
Temes a Acer carte | 


““Oh! Narada, the seven Rishis after seeing Gunga, who was nearly to be 
seen even by the Devids worshipped her, and she was pleased on hearing the 
sound of the skell, &e.” 

Mention is made of Supta-grama or Satgaun in Rennell’s memoirs, 
as well as tiamilton’s Hindoostan, and Mr. Marshman in his history of 
Bengal, page 2, gives the following account :— 

“The chief city of the west of Bengal was Satgaun, not very far 
north of Hugh. It was known to the Romans. It is also mentioned 
in the Poorans as Supta-grama, or the seven villages. It was the great 
mart of Bengal to which nearly all the sea-borne trade was brought.” 
A tradition is still current amongst the inhabitants of Triveni that many 
tempies stood once on the banks of the three sacred streams, and they 
attribute to the seven Rishis the honor of their erection. It is most 
probable that the banks of these sacred streams in those early times 
were studded with temples. Every neighbouring spot has its legend 
still and retains its sanctity, and if such buildings are the sigus of a 
successful faith, whatever that faith may be, can we wonder, where no 
clearer light had yet shone, that such signs were numerous, and that 
Idolatry, springing with the mythological river at its mountain source, 
should swell with the stream, and pour its full tide along unchecked, 
deluging the country on either side as it passed to its Ocean boundaries. 

Such temples, if they remained unscattered in the time of Zafir 
Khan Ghazee, could seareely escape the fury of the terrific Kalapahar. 


1847. | Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 401 


He lived about the reign of the Orissa Raja Telenga Mookund Deb, 
A. D. 1550. He was by birth a brahman, but by conversion a Muham- 
madan, and such was the terror he inspired, that it is commonly re- 
ported and believed, that the arms and legs of the idols for many a 
kros round dropped off at the sound of his kettle drum. 

The present ghaut is of modern date, but the former possibly may 
have been coeval with the temple. Stones of large size are imbedded 
in the river, between the ghaut and the temple, which probably are 
the ruins of the ancient ghaut. ‘Triveni is still held in high estima- 
tion by the inhabitants of Orissa. The fame of its sanctity is far 
spread. Once a year there is a grand mela, and thousands flock to 
the ghaut for the purpose of bathing in theriver. The sight is well 
worth the seeing. It is a fine picture for a clever artist. There is 
something highly picturesque in the attitudes, the grouping and the 
dresses. There is too a lesson to be learned from the deep fervor, how- 
ever mistaken, and the burning zeal, however blinded, of the anxious 
worshippers. A lesson which Christians may learn and not be ashamed, 
and yet a painful impression is forced upon a thinking mind, that 
while light and knowledge are spreading rapidly, and so many nations 
enjoying the blessings they confer, here in ancient India, near the very 
seat of a Christian Government, superstition so dark and strong should 
hold its sway, and delude, alas how fatally its thousands and thousands 
of votaries. 

This is but a skeleton account of Triveni, which others may be able 
to fill up. These are but broken links of a chain it is difficult to 
connect. Others in possession of better data, and with a better know- 
ledge of Indian history, may be able perhaps to form a connection. 


Notes on the Caves of Burabur, by Capt. Kirron, 6th N. I. 


I now proceed to redeem my pledge of publishing the result of my 
enquiries concerning the caves of Burabur in Bahar. 

Differing from all other works of the kind known to us, these caves 
or chambers are, with one exception, entirely devoid of sculpture or 
ornament of any kind. They are in all seven in number ; four in one 

3G 


402 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. [May, 


hill, three in another, but the name ‘‘Satgurba,”’ commonly understood 
to mean ‘‘seven chambers,” is applied to two only, which subject I 
shall treat of further on. 

I shall first of all state that the hills called Burabur, are isolated 
rocks of sienitic granite rising abruptly from the plain about 15 miles 
north of the city of Gyah, by the left bank of the Phulgo or Mahanud- 
da; the cluster is remarkable for its picturesque appearance, and for 
the noble masses of rock piled, as it were, one above another, with 
hardly any soil, consequently little vegetation, and rising to various 
heights, from 100 to 3 or 400 feet. 

Although Burabur is that by which the cluster is commonly known, 
each hill has a name of its own. The highest being called “ Burabur,”’ 
also ‘‘ Sidheswur,” from a temple to Mahadeva that once crowned the 
highest, and of whieh I shall speak presently. 

The next in height is the “‘ Kowa Dol,” which is detached from the 
rest by near a mile to the south-west. 

A third is called “‘ Nag-arjuni,” and is the eastern-most of the great 
cluster. 

A fourth, and the smallest, called Durhawut, is at the northern 
extremity ; others have names also, but as the above alone contain 
objects of notice I shall rest content with giving them only. 

The Kowa Dol being first met with, on commg. from the Dak 
bungalow of Belah on the Patna road, from which it is distant full six 
miles, I shall take it first. It is an almost entirely bare rock, having 
nearly a perpendicular scarp on its northern face, and sloping at an 
angle of 45°, more or less, on the opposite or southern side: east and 
west, it is disjomted and inaccessible ; huge stratified masses are piled 
one over the other, decreasing in length at each end, the whole is sur- 
mounted by single blocks like pillars; the centre one of which towers 
above the rest and is conical. It is said that formerly there was a huge 
block balanced on the top of this cone, which from its being moved 
by birds alighting on it obtained the name of ‘* Kowa Dol’ or crow- 
moved, or the crow-swing ; about a century or less back, this rocking- 
stone fell down, where it may still be seen. 

This hill seems to have been surrounded by a large town; there is 
an artificial mound continuous round the north and east faces, filled with 
broken pottery, bricks and blocks of hewn stone; there are two names 


1847. ] Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 403 


given, “ Sarain’”’ and “ Summunpoor ; on the portion called by the latter 
name there is an extensive Muhammadan cemetery ; there are none but 
paltry monuments with fragments of some ancient Budhist temple 
built into them. 

In the hollow or recess on the east side are the remains of a once 
splendid Budhist temple, of which many pillars are still standing, also 
a gigantic idol of Budha, seated, with no other inscription than the usual 
pious sentence of the Budhists. The dimensions of this figure, which 
is beautifully executed, are as follow :— 

Ft. in. 


From seat to crown of the head.............. 8 0 
eereesrtme shiomlaers se eT PARAM A oO 4 oO 
Prerivienecito knee 2209 eS ee BO 
reer Cue wars Se ree eb 6 
Mer The neal? >.) 80. 8 e4 5 ©. 
MEME ee he ne Tt 2 Ri eee ae oh Bad 
Across the forehead .......... Reetersty wee a aA 
Sener of thigh’ 2... ee ar ac 3. 6 
pee eer arrae et, et Ry RE Stee a 2 F 6 
Peer ere errapren nN SSO es LG a) 6 
BoMawer Dore to a0. Sue yeh ot es 8, 2 0 
Round the arm» ........... EE rae Oe Del gS 
pete er Das SAI ORI Oi) os SURE BRE OG 
Depth of head.... 2-6 | Length ofhand 1-4 _ breadth of Do. 8-0 
Do. of face ...... 1-6 | Do. of foot.... 1-6 breadth of Do. 81 


These measurements will convey some idea of the proportions of 
this fine piece of sculpture. 

The Sinhasun or throne, is very handsome ; there are the usual sup- 
porters, the Sinhas or lions rampant, trampling on elephants couchant, 
and ridden by amazons armed with shields and swords. The stone is the 
grey chlorite or pot stone ; of such almost all the idols in this district 
as well as of Orissa are made; from the style of the carving, and the 
alphabet of the inscription I can assign no very remote date to these 
works ; not more than 8 or 900 years, if so much. 

Leaving this Budhist relic we find some 60 or 80 figures of braéhmi- 
nical idols rudely cut in the huge detached masses of rock at the foot 
of the hill. Of these Durga slaying “ Mahésh-Asiir,” is the principal, 

3G 2 


404 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. | [May, 


and most often repeated ; the next is the Lingam, and again the Gouri 
Sunkur, or Mahadeva, caressing Parbutti, who is seated on his knee, 
with the bull, ‘‘ Nandi’ at his feet, and the “Sinha” or lion at 
her’s. There is one block hewn into the shape of a small temple, 
with niches and images on the four sides. It has formed part of a 
small Dehgope to the memory of some departed devotee of heretical 
sect, the great Budha temple is likewise a funeral monument, as I shall, 
I hope, establish hereafter in a treatise on the subject of the Dehgopes 
or Chaityas for which I have collected much matter. 

The sculptures on the detached blocks are in a very rude style, but. 
this may be attributable in some measure to the extreme coarseness, 
and hardness of the material, as well as inequality in the grain. The 
weather was so windy and cold that I could not make proper drawings 
of these sculptures, but the accompanying rough sketch will convey 
some idea of their position, particularly of those to the arrangement of 
which I would call attention, as follows :— 

First niche, from proper right, male figure erect with a spear ; 2nd, 
female figure “‘ Pudmavati’ or “ Maya Davee;” 3rd, Budha seated ; 4th, 
Mahadeva and Parbutti, commonly called “Gouri Sunkur ;” Parbutti 
seated on Mahadeva’s knee with the bull Nandi at his feet, and the 
Sinha or lion at her’s; 5th, male figure erect with four arms; No. 6, 
male figure riding on the shoulders of another ; 7th, the Lingum and Yoni; 
8th, male half figure “ Aruna?” 9th, Mahadeva and Parbutti repeated ; 
10th, male figure erect holding a lotus in each hand, probably “ Surya ;”” 
11th, Gunesha; 12th, female figure with four arms, attended by Nandi 
and Sinha, perhaps meant for “ Durga,” 13th, male figure standing on 
a prostrate figure. After these, nine niches have, what appears to me 
to be, Durga slaying Mahésh Asur, with her trident; she has one foot 
on the buffaloe’s neck and holds it by the hind leg. This subject is 
repeated on many detached rocks. The Linga is of as frequent occur- 
rence, There is one very large four-faced Linga called the Chou- 
murti Mahadeva, such as may be seen in the caves of Ellora; it is of 
common occurrence in this district. This subject of the Linga I shall 
reserve also for a future paper, and here take leave of the Kowa Dol. 

We now proceed eastward for half a mile or more, then skirting the 
southern base of the main cluster for a mile, an embankment is met 
with connecting one spur of the hill with the other, which together 


f 
4 


1847. | Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 405 


forms akind of amphitheatre or recess; the ground is strewed with 
bricks and potsherds, denoting the existence in former times of a large 
town. The first object the visiter is led to is a strong spring of clear 
water murmuring through the fissures of the rock at the base of the 
northern ridge and disappearing under ground beyond a basin or small 
reservoir of modernconstruction. This water is called the “ Patal 
Gunga,” the Ganges flowing beneath the earth. I need not state the 
absurd stories connected with this natural curiosity ; a fair is held here 
yearly in the month of August. 

We are next led up the steep and slippery face of a bare mass of 
sienite for more than an hundred feet, when the remains of a rudely 
constructed wall (connecting the masses of rock) appear; passing these 
for a short distance, and sliding down a block, worn smooth by the 
process, we find ourselves beside the first cave (See plate VIII. fig. 4) 
called ‘‘ Viswa Mitra.” The first apartment is square or rather pyra- 
midal like Egyptian works. 

The dimensions being 7’ 9” at top and 8’ 9” at the base; the height 
6’ 81” outside, 6’ 72’’ at the inner end, in the centre of which isa door- 
way likewise narrow at top and wide at the base, (a feature common to 
all the caves,) this leads into an unfinished chamber of an irregular 
oval form : on the east side of the first room, is the inscription marked 
as fig. 13 pl. IX. There are four sockets about 6 inches in length 
by 2 inches wide, two on each side on the floor of the outer chamber, 
apparently to receive some kind of frame work. There is a precisely 
similar arrangement at the Aswastema terrace over the great inscription 
of Dhowlee in Cuttack. 

Leaving this cave we pass under the mass of rock in which it is 
seated, in an easterly direction between huge detached masses, here and 
there connected with rude walls or piles of stone ; some fallen pillars 
and hewn blocks are the only remains of what was once a gate-way, 
beneath which are the traces of a flight of rude steps, and a causeway 
leading down into the amphitheatre first described; a few yards 
further west bring you into the elevated valley or basin: on the south 
side are the two ridges of rock out of which the three great caves are 
excavated.. The length of this table-land may be three furlongs or 
more, and greatest breadth one and half. The whole space except where 
there are the remains of tanks, is strewed with bricks and potsherds, and 


406 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. | May, 


there are traces of numerous foundations apparent in every direction ; 
to the north is the peak called Sidheswar and Burabur, immediately 
under which, and of a second not so high, are the remains of a fine 
gateway and a massive wall connecting the two, and the immense blocks 
which appear to have served as bastions: this passage leads down into 
another and extensive level, surrounded with hills, which likewise appear 
formerly to have been connected by walls and embankments, to have 
had large reservoirs and been covered with habitations ; indeed, this is 
not confined to the two spots now described, but has been continued 
further eastward, connecting the Nag-arjuni hillocks until the river 
Phulgo or Mahanudda was reached ; one low hill has been evidently 
used as a grand bastion, it is called absurdly Sher Shah’s Bungalow ; 
a causeway leads to it; it may have been appropriated by the early 
Muhammadans, but it is undoubtedly part of these most ancient Indian 
works, the name even of which is lost to us, unless the place be that 
mentioned in the inscription of the Nag-arjuni cave, to the description 
of the locality of which it answers. 

I must now return to the great caves. The first of these is the 
**Kurun Chowpar,’’and faces the north ; it is entered through a narrow 
Egyptian doorway, as already described, the room is placed east and 
west, and has a segmental roof, as have all except the Viswa Mitra ; 
the ends are at right angles and plain, on the western there is an altar 
or throne as shown in the plate ;* the whole surface except the floor 
is wonderfully polished ; the echo is very beautiful in all these caves. 
The dimensions of the room are 33’-6’X14’, and 10’-9” to the crown of 
the arch, the side wall or faces being 6’-2” to the springing line. The 
labour of cutting and excavating such a chamber in the hardest of rocks 
must have been great indeed, but that of polishing such a surface almost 
incredible ; we are struck with amazement and rivetted to the spot: from 
the quantity of chips of haematite strewed about, I'am inclined to think 
this mineral was used in polishing. My servants having delayed on the 
road and arriving late, I was obliged to pass the night in this chamber 
with a bundle of rice straw for my bedding and covering, and although 
the wind was very high and cold, the temperature within was not so 
unbearable as to prevent my enjoying a good night’s rest ; the bears 
having been graciously pleased to forego their visits, as I kept a candle 


* This throne appears to be the ‘‘ Sri Asanam” mentioned in the Pali Annals.—M. K. 


1847.] Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 407 


burning which I had accidentally brought with me. But to return to my 
subject, on the left corner of the door is the inscription number 5, plate 
IX. which is nearly obliterated, through the effects of the weather and 
probably by the hand of some fanatic, at a very remote period, itis much 
to be regretted, for there is just enough left to excite our curiosity, 
and show that the record was valuable : I have restored as much as I 
well could ; it appears to have entirely escaped notice hitherto, indeed, 
although a square space has been cut and polished, it is but bare- 
ly perceptible, and not at all in the strong light of noon-day; it is 
best seen by clear moonlight standing beneath. I availed myself of 
the opportunity before I lay down to rest, to trace all the visible letters 
with red ochre ; sunrise and sunset are also favorable periods, which I 
remarked upon in my notes on the inscriptions of Cuttack. Dr. Bland, 
H. M. S. Wolf, made the same discovery whilst tracing the inscription 
at Singapore. I shall revert to this subject when treating of the whole 
of these Pali inscriptions together. 

There are eight other short sentences, of some of which James 
Prinsep gave translations in the sixth volume of the journal, but as he 
had only very imperfect impressions with Persian labels, the work of a 
pedantic Kaith employed by Mr. Hathorn, he was led into error and dif- 
ficulty thereby. I shall therefore embody the whole in a separate plate,* 
for easy reference : these I must again refer to under the head inscriptions. 

On the right hand, facing the cave and separated from the main 
mass, is another, the eastern end of which has been scarped and a 
terrace cut ; in this face are three niches with carvings rudely executed; 
the right hand one contains the linga, the two others, apparently figures 
of Siva and Parbutti, but they are undoubtedly of far later date than 
the caves, and the same as that of the sculptures at Kowa Dol and on the 
Sidheswur mount. 

We now proceed to the largest caves, two in number, entered on 
the southern face of the ridge of rock, parallel with that of the cave 
above described, and which ridges are about 950 feet long, and 70 
across, with a narrow passage between. There is aspace of about 100 
feet wide between the main hill and rocks and these ridges ; this is 
filled for some depth with bricks, earth and hewn stones, the ruins of 
temples, so as to block up the entrance of the westernmost cave, 

* See plate IX. 


408 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. | May, 


leaving just room to crawl in, in a sitting posture ; these may be the 
remains of the temple alluded to in the two inscriptions translated 
by Prinsep, and which, as he justly conjectures, are of afar more modern 
date than the caves or the Pali inscriptions which record their construc- 
tion, and first appropriation. I am in hopes of having a passage cut 
in front of the rock and doorways, by which means the water which 
now floods the caves will be let off and prevented again reaching them, 
and admit a free passage for visitors, and perhaps bring to light some 
hidden curiosities. 

Figure 6, pl. VIII. will best explain the shape of this curious 
work of patience and labour ; the entrance has an outer recess or porch 
about three feet deep, the doorway of Egyptian shape, is six feet high ; 
the room is highly finished and polished though perfectly plain; there 
is a niche in the centre of the east end, and on the west the singular 
convex end or side of the circular imner chamber with a projecting 
hood or dome like a mushroom, with its tapermmg doorway, faces the 
visitor, who, if inclined to the study of Budhist antiquities, will at once 
exclaim this is a Dehgope or cave Chaitya. On the left or east side 
of the entrance (outer) recess is the purposely mutilated inscription 
marked fig. 5, pl. IX. of which sufficient is left to show that in the 
12th year of the reign of the beloved Rajah, this ‘“‘ Nigope’’ cave was 
excavated ; unfortunately the first syllable is doubtful, but the second 
is not so, and suffices I think to settle the point of the cave being 
a Chaitya or shrine; indeed I am inclined to believe that three of 
the four on this hill were such, for the common name of ‘‘ Sutgurba,”’ 
which the Kaith moonshee, taking the word “ sat’’ as a numeral, wrote 
‘‘huft khaneh,” or seven chambers, the meaning generally however, 
though improperly given at the present time, should in my estimation 
_ be rendered the caves of righteousness. In the.Pdéli annals, the 
spot it called “ Suttapanni Gurba,” i. e. allowing my inference before 
explained as correct. The other caves at Nag-arjuni were perhaps 
not so, but intended as habitations for the ascetics, as already shown. 

The extreme lengths of these chambers from end to end, as well as 
their width and height to crown of vault will be seen in the plate. 

At the end and further east of the above mentioned, is a second dou- 
ble chambered cave of the same shape, but has remained unfinished, the 
sides only being polished and the vault left in the rough, as well as the 


Plans * Sections, Barabur Caves. Pe, VIL. 


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4 f 


1847. | Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 409 


Chaitya at the end. This is called by Buchanan, “ Lomas Rishi;’’ he gives 
a wood cut of this singular archway and frieze carved out of. the solid 
rock over and about the usual shaped door, but as I shall have to draw 
attention to the peculier style of architecture it displays, I have annex- 
ed a drawing of my own ;* there is no Pali inscription here, nor are there 
any traces of there ever having been any. The inscription No. 15 PI. 
XXXVI. of the VI. Vol. of the Journal, occupies the spandril under 
the arch, also those marked 18 and 19, in the same plate, which are 
immediately under the other and above the head of the doorway. This 
external sculpture still retains the beautiful polish originally given to it. 
Having described these caves I must conduct my readers to the sum- 
mit of the “ Kurun Chowpar” or “Sidh Eswar’’? Maha Deva, to this 
there is an almost impracticable and dangerous path on the southern 
face by which I ascended, having done so, I found the crest of the hill 
strewed with potsherds and bricks, and a narrow passage with Lingas 
and figures of “ Ganesha,” rudely carved out of the masses of rock, 
the same as at the Kowa Dol; steps are here and there cut in the 
rock, and innumerable fragments of hewn stone lie scattered, over 
which the traveller climbs till he reaches a level spot, 50 feet or more 
below the highest point ; on these are fragments of idols and one entire 
figure of Varaha ; there are two rows of sheds used by the confectioners, 
when the fairs are held. Upon ascending the peak we arrive at a 
modern building called Sidheswar, in which there are several large idols 
of considerable antiquity, on one of them is an inscription, see fig. 13 
plate IX. Ina dark chamber is a huge linga with garlands made of 
solah hanging over it ; some portions of the base of the temple remain ; 
these, together with the fragments strewed about, and the great extent 
of the terrace, show not only that one magnificent temple at least must 
have crowned this height, but from their being fragments of various 
styles, that there have been successive temples ; and I am further inclin- 
ed to think, that there may have originally been a tope like those of 
Bhilsa, Sarnath and Manikyala, though from discoveries made, there 
would be no reason for the worship of Siva (as Sidheswar) not being 
observed in connection with that of Budha, in the same vicinity, for 
not only is this anomaly apparent at the western caves, at Cuttack, 


* This drawing is omitted as it will appear in connection with the subject of Budhist 
architecture hereafter. 
3H 


410 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. [ May, 


Maha Bulli Poorum, Girrinay, &c. but in this district also, where it 
must have been up to the latest date : Even now, I consider it more than 
probable that the mut or monastery of Bodh Gyah was originally a joint 
Budha and Saiva establishment ; it is now the latter only ; but this is a 
digression, the subject is one affording an ample text for a separate paper. 

That this temple of Sidheswar is of remote date we can infer from 
the early character of the sentence No. 6, Plate XXXV. Vol. VI. of the 
Journal, and of mine, of which a translation is given at page 679 of 
the same volume, “ the irresistible and auspicious Joganund salutes Si. 
dheswar ;”’ here then we see, how necessary it is in carrying out such 
studies, that the traveller should accurately copy even the most trivial 
sentence or word; the more I see the more I learn the value of this, 
therefore I would impress it on my fellow-labourers, and at the same 
time never to trust to native copyists. 

On leaving Sidheswar peak, I descended on the north side, the face 
of which, though as steep if not more so than on the south, has a much 
more gentle and practicable path laid out diagonally towards the east, 
and in some places steps have been cut in the rock ; this passage leads 
on to the lower land already described as the site ofa city. After pro- 
ceeding for half a mile towards the river, between detached rocks, and 
leaving that which I have described as a tower or bastion to the left, 
and the Nag-arjuni peak to the right, and climbing over some masses 
of rock in front, the traveller meets with a large. terrace of brick-work 
and stone, grown over with bushes with some ruined tombs ; beside this 
is a large brick well ; turning to the left or north at a few yards distance 
a small cave is seen, fig. 1, plate VIII. This is the one which from the 
Pali inscription Prinsep has termed the Milkmaid’s Cave. The saluta- 
tion to Sidheswar, written, or rather rudely cut in the doorway of this 
cave, No. 1 of my plate, also No. 2 of the same. This room and its 
porch are as beautifully polished as the rest, the dimensions will be 
seen by the plate VIII. fig. 1. 

Upon climbing the terrace named, (which has been that of a large 
temple,) and looking down where there is a gap in the rock, another 
doorway is seen, over which is a square polished surface containing the 
Pali inscription, fig. 3, plate IX. Upon entering this, the long inscrip- 
tion, fig. 9, plate X. is found cut on the right hand side of the entrance.* 


* Nore. For easier reference the spots where the inscriptions occur are marked a and 
b, on the plans. 


PUNZTED Saag BLT ney PMI | 


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1847. ] Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 411 


There is but one chamber, this has been divided by a thin brick 
wall by some Mahomedan fakir, perhaps several centuries back, the 
doorway or aperture to which is so small as to have prevented my 
entering it, but I felt the end with a 10 foot rod. From the fragments 
found scattered, I conclude that there must have been a very handsome 
temple here of very early date. 

Retracing our steps and turning to the south, we descend through a 
passage between a row of huge blocks of sienite, which had formed 
part of the southern barrier to the great enclosure, we then come on to 
the plain, then turning to the left (or east) and continuing to a tope of 
Tar-trees under the Nag-arjuni’s frightful crags, we reach a flight of 
steps, about the centre of the hill; after an ascent of about 60 feet a 
narrow terrace is found continued along the side of the rock, in the 
centre of which an Egyptian doorway leads you into a splendid oval- 
shaped and vaulted room, polished in the usual manner ; over the door- 
way is asquare polished surface containing the inscription No. 1, pl. IX, 
is 3 of Prinsep’s plate, and on the left hand side of the passage or thick- 
ness of the rock, is that given in his plate XXXIV. and translated at 
page 673; on the opposite side are some more recent scrawls. 

This cave is inhabited and has been so for many years, by Mahome- 
dan saints; there is a small mosque before the door, more than a 
century old; the cave is called Nag-arjuni, whether from the Budhist 
saint of that name having lived there, or from mere fancy it is not possi- 
ble to decide, though as the name Sidheswar has been preserved, and if 
my version of ‘‘ Satgurba,” be correct, I see no reason to doubt the in- 
scription, moreover I am inclined to think that it is the very perapu- 
tetic chamber named in the Pali annals in which Annund Mini per- 
formed his austerities. 

Having described the caves I must conclude with Dhuravat. 

I have already said that it is the north-westernmost end of the 
cluster of hills. I visited this place by moonlight, therefore had not so 
good an opportunity of examining the locality, however, I saw suffi- 
cient to enable me to decide that there is the site of a Budhist temple. 
On the lowest hillock, at the head of which is a fine tank called Chun- 
doke, many idols and miniature Chaityas, such as are found all over 
the district, are placed in and about a modern temple to “ Nirsinha” 
on the east bank of the tank : there is one very remarkable figure of a 


n 
oH 2 e 


412 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. [May, 


man with twelve arms, each hand holding a lotus ; it is a Budhist sculp- 
ture. I was told of several other figures in the vicinity, but had no 
leisure to examine them, those I saw were comparatively modern, 
mostly well executed. To the northward of the tank is a high mound 
of bricks and rubbish, perhaps the ruins of a monastery or of some of 
the buildings of the ancient town, of which nothing else remains. 

I will now offer a few words on the inscriptions, of which there are 
in all 29; including that on the idol at Sidheswar, six are in the old 
Pali, three in the Gupta, and three in an unknown character, to which I 
shall invite particular attention, and the remainder are in various types 
of Nagree, from the earliest to latest date. 

Plate IX. Nos. 1 and 2, are those numbered 3 and 2, in Prinsep’s 
plate. No. 3 had hitherto been overlooked, being in the same cave as 
the long inscription No. 9, plate X. It will be perceived that there is a 
slight difference in some of the words of the three, perhaps errors in 
cutting, otherwise they are verbatim. The same, excepting the initial 
name (of the cave), I have neither books to refer to nor pundits to 
consult by which I might explain these variations, therefore I must 
content myself with mviting the attention of those who are more fortu- 
nate, and who are better scholars. 


In fig. 1 the word 7 b “Gopi” is clear enough, but instead of the 
last word of the inscription being J uL° Aliyam, it seems to be 


da) J,’ Sooliyam, though I am inclined to think it is merely a mistake 
of the engraver. ir ig QO- “ Nisiti’ is written eta: ‘¢ Nisita” both in 


Nos. 1. and 3., No. 2. on the contrary has neither change; indeed with 
the exception of five letters, purposely hammered out, itis quite perfect, 
(a stronger proof of the soundness of Prinsep’s conjectures could not be 
needed, the copy he had being very imperfect ;) however, knowing what 
they should be, it was no difficult matter to trace them, but it must 
be observed that all the inscriptions in the lath or Pali character have 
had the letters ground and polished after cutting, to which circum- 
stance their better preservation must be attributed ; moreover all have 
been cut ona polished surface. I speak of those I have myself seen ; 
those in our museum afford proofs. 


® J 
In No. 2. the word 4 Ud is deserving of notice, the second letter 


1847.] Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 413 


being more like [, h. but the mark is placed lower down, and may be 
equivalent to the short ikar of the Sanscrit, though it has been sup- 
posed not to exist in the Pali; this would at once make it q9¥= instead 
of q9t4. aste appears to have no meaning. 

No. 3 over the doorway of the cave which appears to have escaped 
notice, has the word 4 / Q- aegy the meaning of which I know not ; 
in other respects the inscription is a repetition of those before named. 

We now come to the three remaining Pali writings that have hither- 
to been overlooked. ‘The first (figure 4) is the most perfect, though 
the five last letters which I feel warranted in restoring have been 
hammered out as before described. Upon refering to Prinsep’s papers on 
the pillar inscriptions P. 471, Vol. Vil. I find that the sentence “ Duva 
dus vasa bhisiténa” 9 ft ddgdd LK |. iscommonto them. I am 
enabled therefore to read that “by the beloved Rajah in the 12th 
year of his reign, this cave was caused to be excavated, &ec.” the 
remainder I cannot render for reasons above given. Thus much would 
seem to point to the same person as author both of the pillars and of 
these caves, and if the similarity of design and execution be considered a 
criterion, we may infer that it was Dusarat himself whose name is repeat- 
ed with the title “beloved of the gods” in the three first named inscrip- 
tions. This reasoning it will be seen throws doubt on the assumption 
that Asoka was the author, a doubt Prinsep himself always entertained. 
Indeed, if the conjectures I have made on reading the passage before 
quoted of the Pali annals, are correct, there are none, that he was not. 

If we may judge by the unfinished state of caves, (Nos. 4 and 7, 
plate VIII.) we shall naturally conclude that they are of later date than 
those bearing Dusarut’s name ; one difficulty would thereby be removed 
were it not that this prince (if Prinsep be right), was the third in 
descent from Asoka ; but it suggests a further conjecture, i. e. whether 
this Dusarut may not have been the very deified personage of the 
purans, king of Ajudhia and father of the hero Ram, whose history I 
believe to be a mythological tale of a real event. The conquest of 
Lunka or Ceylon by him may be in reality that made by a_ prince, 
whose title was Devanam Prya, or Devanam Prya Dasa, for either 
title conveys the same meaning. I throw out these as hints for the 


consideration of those who have read more and have better opportuni- 
ties for study than myself. 


A414 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. [Mays 


I may here further digress and allude to the rude Budha sculptures 
I found at Bodh Gyah and which I am about to lay* before the society. 
In these, buildings are represented with arched entrances precisely of 
the design of that of the great cave, which again (like those in 
Cuttack) are miniatures of similar designs in the caves of Carli and 
others in the west of India. Now it is common for Archeeologists 
to found their arguments as to the age of ancient buildings, upon 
comparing them with the paintings which illumine ancient manu- 
scripts of known date, it being evident that such forms must have been 
in existence at, or prior to, the representation being made, the same 
rule must apply to sculptures such as those of Bédh Gyah, therefore if 
they belonged to Asoka’s great temple, the works they represented 
existed before it, or at the same time at least ; but as these sculptures 
represent buildings on rocks, we may incline to the first opinion. That 
the sculptures belonged to the same period as the first pillars there 
can be scarcely a doubt, for they are of precisely the same stone, and 
one the quarries of which have not been discovered ; this is of itself a 
remarkable circumstance ; besides, they bear inscriptions in the identical 
character, and record* gifts in the same style as those on the posts of 
Bhilsa. 

I now return to my inscriptions. Fig. 5 differs somewhat in the 
reading, there. bemg an adjective between the opening sentence, and 


the word +r) or cave. This word after the most careful examination 


appears to be It Ly) « Nigép,”’ the ‘‘gédp” is clear enough, which is 


curious, for it is at the entrance of the very cave which I have described 
as having a Dagép or Chaitya, the remaining obliterated letters amount- 
ing in number to that required for such, together with parts of them 
still visible, admit of our supposing the sentence to have been the same 
as the others, i. e. ‘‘ for the one of Budhist ascetics.” 

No. 6 is too imperfect to be made out without the aid of a clever 
pundit, and needs such a Pali scholar as Rutna Pala who assisted Prinsep. 
I must content myself with inviting the attention of others possessing 


greater advantages. The mark re will not escape notice, it is found on 
coins, and in the inscriptions of the Saindharee caves and that of Kund- 


* See notes on Sculptures at Bodh Gyah, p. 334 of the present Volume. 


Ee ee ee ee 


1847. | Notes on the Caves of Burabur. 415 


girri in Cuttack. This inscription is immediately over the left corner 
of the entrance, but so weatherworn and mutilated that a casual 
observer would not perceive it. A sentence seems to have existed over 
the door, but is now become eligible. 

No. 7 is that published as 15 by Prinsep (see pl. XXXV. Vol VI.) 
and from the awkward manner in which the separate sheets of impres- 
sions were taken by the Moonshee, gave so much trouble, and rendered 
the reading doubtful ; by the impression I now submit,* it will be seen 
that, instead of its occupying three distinct spaces, the whole is comprised 
in one, and, as conjectured by Prinsep, it fills the spandril or space be- 
tween the arched head and the top of the square doorway. I believe 
Kamulakanta to have been right when he pronounced that the first two 
lines had no connection with the four last. This struck me at first 
sight. I have since read the remarks, the letters are smaller, and I think 
have been added at a somewhat subsequent date ; there can be no doubt 
that both have been an afterwork, perhaps centuries later than the 
caves. 

No. 8 has also been rendered by Prinsep in the same volume, but 
it may be as well to compare the present accurate impression with the 
former ; it is engraved within the jaumb of the doorway to the Nag- 
arjuni (oval) cave, the edges are rough owing to the want of skill in 
cutting. 

No. 9, plate X. appears hitherto to have (together with No. 3, 
(before described), escaped notice. I trust that some scholar will 
come forward to translate it, should I not be able with the assistance of 
a clever pundit to do so, but I shall first beg to invite Saroda-purshad 
to undertake the task. I feel sure it could not be entrusted to better 
hands. The character is the same as that of the two foregoing numbers, 
the dates, therefore, may not much differ. This is likewise cut within 
the jaumb of the small cave, fig. 3, plate VIII. 

No. 10 is inscribed on either side of the head of a female figure or 
idol on the Sidheswar temple: It is a very rude performance. 

Nos. 11, 12, 13, and 14, or figs. 7, 8, 9, plate IX. are the curious 
characters to which J would invite the attention of our French and 
German fellow-labourers. I have remarked the same characters on the 
Allahabad pillar, and in the caves of Cuttack. Prinsep refers to the 


* This refers to the inscriptions exhibited at Capt, Kittoe’s lecture. —Eps. 


416 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. [ May, 


same as occurring at Barahut, in Ghurwal (see plate IX.) page 342, Vol. 
V. of the Journal. No. 11 however differs considerably, and is written 
vertically like Chinese ; it is placed horizontally in Prinsep’s plate. It 
has always occurred to me that these are Trans-Himalayan characters 
written by pilgrims at a very early period. No.12 was not sent to 
Prinsep ; it is rudely cut and scattered. No. 14 is a single letter or 
word on one of the pillasters of the Satgurba arch. 

I shall not trouble my readers with repeating the whole of the smaller 
sentences, which had no doubt from time to time been cut by the 
ascetics who occupied the caves whemthe Budhists were expelled ; there 
are two only deserving of notice. These I have given as 15 and 16 in - 
plate IX. The first shows that at a remote period the presiding deity of 
the spot was “‘Sidheswar’’? Mahadeva, which it is still. 

The second or fig. 16, are deserving of notice; they are of a very 
early types, and admit.of another reading besides that given by Prinsep ; 
see No.16 in P. 679, Vol. VI. viz. it may be an abbreviation of 
 Bodisté Likhité” or the writing of Budhists, for the double letter 
more resembles the compound @ than @ and may have been writ- 
ten by the fanatic who injured the Pali inscriptions, but if this reading 
be not admitted, I should prefer another, namely, “the root of Budh- 
ism,”’ which (supposing this locality to have been the site of Sakya’s 
preaching and of the great convocations of Magda, of which I think 
there is little doubt) would be most appropriate. 

I offer the foregoing more with a view of throwing out hints for those 
whose deep and extensive reading must enable them to speak with 
greater confidence. I could wish I were able to boast of more myself ; 
in the absence of such desideratum J endeavor to collect and make 
known every trifle that may tend to the elucidation of doubtful points 
in the early history of this vast empire, my more gifted readers must 
take the will for the deed and excuse any blunders. 


SOOO OOOO wm" 


1847.| Process of working the Damascus Blade of Goojrat. 417 


Process of working the Damascus Blade of Goojrat ; by Capt. JAMES 
Axssott, Boundary Commissioner, Lahore. 


In the Appendix to my narrative of a journey to Khiva, &e. I pub- 
lished a paper upon the fabric of the Damascus blade, written by my 
friend Colonel Anosoff, of the Engineers, master of the celebrated Fa- 
bric of Arms at Zlataoost in Siberia, accompanied by such remarks 
as my own experience suggested. But having been the guest of that 
gentleman I did not conceive myself at liberty to publish without his 
express permission, which I had no means of obtaining, the process by 
which cast steel is rendered sufficiently elastic for sword blades. And 
not having witnessed the forging of a blade, I was ignorant of the fur- 
ther precautions necessary to bring out the grain of the Damask. 

I have now just returned from Jullalpoor in Goojrat, (the Goojrat of 
the Punjaub) and am prepared to describe the whole process adopted 
there, in the fabric of sword blades, celebrated throughout India. 

The blade of Goojrat is of two kinds, the simple and the mixed 
damask. 

The simple damask is precisely similar to the damask of Isfahaun in 
Persia. Its Damascene is a granulation covering the entire surface of 
the blade, and often disposed in lateral processes ; as if the blade had 
been woven throughout of infinitely fine wires. At other times, this 
granulation is streaky like a skein of floss silk that has been rumpled 
into innumerable wrinkles too minute to be followed by the eye. 

At other times it has the grain observed in timber, when intersected 
obliquely. 

All these different kinds, are the same substance, submitted to the 
same process. At least, the general treatment and intention are the 
same, and the differences arise from accident, not design. 

The substance is a small cake of cast steel weighing about 2 Ths. and 
exhibiting manifest symptoms of the fluid condition in which it ac- 
quired its plano-convex shape. That is, the lower or convex surface, 
bears the impression of the coarse gravelly mould into which it was 
poured. And the upper or flat surface, has those concentric wrinkles 
and radiations, which all metals take in crystallizing after fusion. 
This cast steel (fow/ahd) is purchased at Umritsur in the small cakes 


above noted. The natives know not its origin, but only that it 
, at 


418 Process of working the Damascus Blade of Goojrat.— {May, 


comes from the south, and can be purchased at Delhi, in large as well 
as in small cakes. In India, if the same question is asked, the natives 
reply, that it comes from the north. It is, probably, therefore, brought 
up the Indus and Sutlej from the Persian Gulf. 

The accompanying figures 1 and 2 (Pl. XI.) represent the plan and 
profile of a mass lying upon the table before me. Now, upon considering 
the internal structure of this, we are aware that it is a bundle of con- 
centric needles crystallized around a porous centre, the vesicles of which 
are coarse and apparent, formed by the splash of the metal as it fell 
fluid into the mould. These I have rudely represented in dots in 
figure 12. It is also manifest that the most solid portions of the mass 
are the lower or convex surface. And, accordingly, in beating it out 
into a bar, great care is taken to preserve each surface distinct from the 
other, in order that the edges of the lenticular mass may become the 
sides or flat surfaces of the blade ; that the convex surface may become 
the edge ; and the flat, porous surface, the back. Under any other dis- 
position, the damask figures would be confused and unseemly—and, as 
cast steel cannot be welded, by any art known in Asia, the porosity of 
the centre of crystallization in the mass, would either offer a jagged, 
flawed edge, or one of the sides must be disfigured and weakened by 
it. And thus the arrangement pursued in the fabric of the simple 
damask blade is suggested by sound sense. The elegance and symme- 
try arising from the arrangement is the accidental but necessary con- 
sequence. 

The mass of cast steel being brought to red heat and held, as 
represented in figure 3, edgewise upon the anvil, is beaten into a square 
prism or bar—an operation of about two hours duration. When the 
requisite length is attained, the bar is flattened under the hammer, 
those sides in the bar, which had been the edges, being placed, the one 
above the other below, so as to become the flat surfaces of the blade. 
The blade being shaped with the hammer and file and roughly bur- 
nished, is brought to a dull red heat in along charcoal fire,—a long 
vessel of common oil is placed within reach, and the blade is plunged 
by successive drawing cuts edge-foremost, into the oil; so that the 
edge becomes the most highly tempered part, and the back remains the 
softest. The excessive temper is abated in the usual manner by laying 
the blade over a slow charcoal fire. It is then burnished, and ground, 


Cap! Mboit- adele. 


eg 13 
Sheer eel. 

gees Prisr even Slee 

eT EE 

(Cask Seed 

RE et es 


aS ce 


ue Sheer Steet Ps 


T Black. Asiatic Lith: Fress.Caleu'ta 


MWlLadlay ahh. 


wy 


i ues 


‘is 
, spite o kt re 


1847.| Process of working the Damascus Biade of Gogjrat. 419 


and being carefully cleansed from grease in wood ashes, white vitriol 
(kussees) dissolved in water is rubbed over all the surface excepting 
the edge. This, eating deepest between the interstices of the crystals, 
exhibits their arrangement which constitutes the damask of the blade. 

In following the mass of cast steel through all the changes of figure 
produced by the action of the hammer (figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,) we per- 
ceive that, as it cannot be welded, the pores in the centre of erystalli- 
zation must remain, although immensely elongated under the extension 
of the mass. These accordingly exhibit themselves in an irregular and 
ugly seam in the back of the blade, impairing both its elegance and its 
solidity. And hence it is manifest, that in order to the production of 
a blade without flaw, either the porous heart of the mass should be 
ground out previous to the action of the hammer, or the blade should 
be forged of excessive breadth, and the unsound back be ground away. 
But the necessity of either precaution would not exist were necks made 
to the moulds (fig. 9) in which the steel is originally cast; so that 
there might be a surplus of metal (as im casting bullets and guns)—to 
give solidity by pressure to the incumbent mass. 

We further observe, that as the flat surfaces of the blade (figure 
10) are formed of the edges of the lenticular mass (figure 11) they 
present a section across the crystallization ; rectangular in the centre, 
but of various obliquity toward either end. It follows, that the less 
the original mass is altered by hammering, the more nearly lateral will 
be the disposition of the dots representing the ends of crystals—and 
hence the various figures presented by the same metal under slightly 
different treatment. It is also apparent, that these figures will mate- 
rially alter, according to difference in the shape of the original mass— 
and it may be reasonably doubted, whether the shape in which the 
cast steel is brought to India, be the most conducive to symmetry of 
damask or to soundness of fibre. 

As the damask of a blade is the map of its crystallization, so it is 
probable that the figures alter according to the purity of the iron of 
which the steel is formed, the quantity of carbon contained in it, or to 
both these circumstances combined. Nay, the degree of heat of the 
fused metal at the time of casting, and the temperature of the mould 
in which it was formed may both contribute to differences in the 
crystallization. 


420 Process of working the Damascus Blade of Gograt. [Mavy, 


Col. Anosoff, himself the reviver, if not the inventor of the elastic 
damask, lays down the following laws, as the test of quality of the 
damask, viz. 

Ist. The Damascene formed principally of right Hnes, almost parallel, 
denotes the lowest quality of damask. 

2d. When the right lines become shorter and are partly replaced by 
curves, they denote a better quality than the first. 

3d. When the lines are interrupted, show points; and when the di- 
mensions of the curves increase, this is a still better symptom. 

4th. When the interrupted lines become still shorter, or rather when 
they change to points as they increase in number, so as to form in the 
breadth of the steel, here and there, as it were, nets, interlinked by 
threads, which undulate in diverse directions from one net to the other ; 
in this case the damask approaches perfection. 

Finally. When the nets open further to form figures resembling 
grapes: or when they occupy the entire breadth of ‘the steel and par- 
take it in nearly equal articulations, im that case, the damask may be 
recognised as of the highest possible quality. See Appendix, 2d Vol: 
p- LXXVI. Abbott’s Journey to Khiva, &e. 

Now, whilst I concur with Col. Anosoff in believing that a connois- 
seur may read the quality of damask steel in its Damascene, I rather 
doubt the above being the key to the language,—because the globula- 
rity of the marks must depend very much upon the angle of section of 
the crystals, an angle dependent upon the figure in which the steel was 
first cast. 

Several very costly damask blades were exhibited to Burnes at Cabul, 
and it was explained to him, that they were valued according to the 
continuity of the flossy streaks from hilt to pomt. I myself observed 
when in Khorussaun, that a decided preference was given to the streak- 
ed variety, viz. to that which appears like an amalgamated mass of 
infinitely fine wires. It will be seen from the process of forging the 
simple damask that any continuity of fibre must be a mere accident, and 
denote nothing as respects the quality of the metal. 

I have before me a beautiful specimen of Siberian damask, given me 
by Anosoff, and presenting upon its surface the prismatic play of colors 
which he values so highly. In appearance it differs from the Jullala- 
bad blades chiefly in the greater uniformity of its interlaced streaks ; 


1847.] Process of working the Damascus Blade of Goojrat. 421 


attributable probably to a better figure in the mass of steel from which 
it was forged. _It is perfectly elastic. The simple damask of Jullala- 
bad beimg tempered in oil, has little elasticity, and the makers will 
not warrant it to undergo any proof. It is liable both to bend without 
recovery and to snap short on concussion. The same is observable of 
the damask of Khorussaun, constructed by a similar process. The 
cast steel when tempered in water becomes too brittle for sword blades, 
and the elasticity given by oil is not greater than that which brass 
possesses. 

A very elegant elastic blade which I purchased in Siberia, and thought 
cheap at 20 guineas, exhibits a damask of oval concentric rings, so regu- 
lar and beautiful that I would not believe it to be real damask, until a 
portion of the blade had been burnished and the acid applied in my 
presence, when the re-appearance of the Damascene, placed the matter 
beyond doubt. I have seen a similar though less beautiful Damascene 
upon daggers forged at Isfahaun. It is difficult to imagine this to be 
the mere exhibition of crystallization. 

The simple damask of Jullalabad is wrought into three figures. 
The very narrow, rather thick, much curved Khorussauni sabre—whose 
section is an abrupt wedge, unwieldy in the grasp and as unfit for of- 
fence as for defence. 

The broader, much curved, plain or fluted blade of Damascus, with 
a double-edged point, which its curvature nullifies. And a long 
straight single or double-edged blade, broad, thin and fluted, wider 
near the pomt than at the hilt: always set in a basket hilt, with a 
pommel projecting three inches to protect the sword-arm and much used. 
by gladiators who exhibit at the Mohurrum. All are forged in the 
same manner from the same material, yet each has its own separate 
Damascene, owing to the greater diffusion of the grain of crystallization 
in one kind than: in the other. In the very narrow blade it is more 
streaky—in the broad blade it more resembles the most delicate of the 
streaks upon watered ribbands. ‘The darkening of the blade toward 
the edge, observable in Khorussauni sabres, is not visible in these—I 
attribute this darkness to an increase of carbon. But at Jullalpoor 
the sword-cutters think it proceeds from increase of temper, and that 
the stain upon the damask is dark according to the degree of its 
temper. 


A292 Process of working the Damascus Blade of Goojrat. [Mavy, 


Such is the secret of the pretty but useless damask of Goojrat ; at 
least of the simple variety. ‘The compound damask is far less elegant, 
but constitutes a good blade, little inferior perhaps to the produce of 
Salinjer, though certainly less elastic. The following is the process 
employed in the fabric of the Sukkaila or compound damask. 

A ribband of keeri or sheer steel being bent into the figure of a 
siphon (fig. 13) is filled with six or more ribbands of cast steel, 
blistered steel and sheer steel as per accompanying diagram. I dis- 
tinguish between cast steel and blistered steel, because the first has 
been in actual fusion, whereas the second appears to me that which 
goes in England by the name of ‘cast or blistered steel,’’ and comes 
from Europe in small square bars. This mass being well hammered 
at welding heat, is doubled,—welded, redoubled and rewelded. A small 
bar of sheer steel of similar length is then welded upon the side which 
is to be the back, and a similar bar of cast and blistered steel well mix- 
ed together is welded for the edge. It is then beaten out, flattened 
and shaped into a blade, and tempered in water. The Damascene of 
this blade is coarse and resembles the transverse lights upon a_ watered 
ribband. It has a moderate elasticity, if well tempered: but of course 
its quality must depend chiefly upon the fineness of the steel employed 
in its fabric,—and there is little choice of material in India. 

There is no doubt that a blade may thus be constructed, the edge 
of which may be keen as that of cast steel, whilst sufficient elasticity 
is preserved to render it proof against distortion or fracture under very 
severe shocks. And if, instead of thick ribbands of the several 
metals, fine wires were employed, an elegant Damascene might be the 
produce. This I am inclined to think is the original Damascus blade, 
as distinguished from the blade of Isfahaun: for, as its celebrity was 
greatest, when defensive armour was incommon use, it is absurd to 
suppose it could have resembled one of the faithless brittle blades of cast 
steel, which now bear the name. 

The price of the Jullalpoor or Goojrat blade in a scabbard, without 
hilt, varies from 8 to 12 Rs. (16 to 24 shillings.) 

The instruments employed in the manufactory are rude and imper- 
fect. Yet as the solidity of a sword blade depends much upon the quan- 
tity of labour expended in hammering, the very imperfection of the 
implements may tend to the excellence of the work. A bar of steel 


pr ha 
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1847. ] On a new form of the Hog kind or Suide. 423 


under a very heavy hammer is soon beaten out ; but every blow unset- 
tles on either side, as much of the crystals of the steel as it has com- 
pressed beneath it :—and I believe, that four times as much labour 
should be bestowed in hammering the slightly heated bar, as at present 
it receives at Jullalpoor. . 

But the imperfection of the furnace tends wholly to that of the 
blade. For as it is impossible to give the same degree of heat to all 
parts of the weapon at the same time ; one portion becomes harder and 
more brittle than the other: and the blade is more liable to fracture 
than if the whole were equally brittle. The equal distribution of heat 
throughout the blade is perhaps attainable only by immersion in molten 
metals ; a method practised, I believe, by Savigni, the celebrated cutler. 

Should you deem this worthy of publication in the Society’s Journal, 
I believe it will be the only existing record of the process of making 
the simple damask sword blade. 


On a new form of the Hog kind or Suide, by B. H. Hovason, Esq. 


Pachydermata. 
Suidee, Genus Porcula, mihi. 

Generic character—Teeth & 1:1. §:6—40, 

Canines small, straight, severely cutting, but not ordinarily exserted 
from the lips. Fourth toe on all the feet, small and unequal. Tail 
very short but distinct. | 

Type Porcula Salvania,* mihi. 
Pigmy Hog of the saul forest. 
Sano Banel and Chota Stivar 
of the Natives. 
Habitat, Saul forest. 

Sp. Ch. Pigmy Hog of a black brown colour, slightly and irregularly 
shaded with sordid amber. Iris Hazel; nude skin, dirty flesh colour. 
Hoofs, glossy brown—length from snout to vent 18 to 20 inches. 
Height 8 to 10 inches. Weight 7 to 10, rarely 12 ths. 

Precision and comprehensiveness certainly belong to technical de- 
scriptions ; and the above few words, though they may prove distasteful 


* yreraayt, of or belonging to the Saul forest, 


424 On a new form of the Hog kind or Suide. [May, 


to the general, will be largely suggestive to the instructed reader, and 
at the same time convey to the latter more information than he would 
obtain from five times the space occupied with popular description 
merely. A description of the popular kind I will supply presently ; 
but in the meanwhile I must proceed distinctly to state the grounds 
upon which I suppose the Pigmy Hog to represent a new form among’ 
the animals of its kind. My books are few for reference, and my ma- 
terials scanty for examination ; but, having made the best use in my 
power of both, I shall not hesitate to tender to the Society the results 
of my investigation of a new and most rare species in that shape which 
appears to me most calculated to stimulate further research, reserving 
for a future report any additional information I may myself obtain in 
correction or confirmation of my present views; for I am entirely of 
the opinion of the late able mstitutor of our journal, viz. that it is 
designed as a prompt record of current facts and suggestions, to be 
stated as made, and to be corrected with recurring opportunity. 

Mr. Gray, in his recent and excellent catalogue of the immense stores 
of the British museum states that there are five genera of the Porcine 
family, or Sus, Dicotyles, Babirussa, Choiropotamus and Phacocheerus. 
Of tlese I regret that I have no means of satisfactory reference for 
Choi.opotamus. But it and Phacochzerus are exotic forms not easily 
mistaken, and I apprehend cannot comprehend our present subject ; 
nor can Babirussa, though an insular Indian type; for its characteris- 
tics are well known. There remain only Sus and Dicotyles, or the 
Hogs proper and the Pecary hogs; and, that our animal belongs to 
neither of these, but is an interesting intermediate link between them, 
will I think be at once apparent from my generic definition, or from 
that and what I shall now add thereto relative to the organization and 
habits of the Pigmy Hog. My materials for description consist of a 
male of the species, young but sufficiently grown to indicate its fixed 
characters, and fresh but deprived of its entrails. I have had its skull 
extracted and have compared carefully its general form and its cranium 
with those of the tame and of the wild hog and of their young, and I 
have studied all these under the guidance of Cuvier and his commenta- 
tors as well as of the general zoology of Shaw.* As the result of these 


* Régne animal, Vol. III. pp. 330, 334 and 401,414 ; General Zoology II. 458, 470, 
and Régne animal, V. pp. 287, 290. 


1847. | On a new form of the Hog kind or Suide. 425 


observations and references it appears to me that the Pigmy Hog of the 
Saul forest is almost equally allied to the true Hogs and to the Peccaries, 
agreeing with the former in the absence of any peculiar external organs, 
such as the gular flaps of Larvatus and the pelvic sac of Torquatus and 
Labiatus ; also in the number and form of its incisor teeth, and in 
having a perfect tail and four overt toes to each foot, but differing from 
the true Hogs and agreeing with the Peccaries in the number of its 
molar teeth, in the style of the laniaries, and in the diminished elon- 
gation of the jaws; and showing yet further inclination towards the 
same form (Dicotyles) by the extreme smallness of the tail as well as 
by the tendency of the fourth toe to disappearance. The presence of a 
tail and of a fourth toe, with the limited number of molars and the 
straightness of the unexserted laniaries, are the positive characters of 
our proposed type ; which, how like soever to the ordinary Hog, differs 
therefrom materially in structure and not less in manners and habitat ; 
for, whereas the Hog abounds all over India, the Pigmy Hog is exclu- 
sively confined to the deep recesses of primeval forest, and hence (I 
believe) has entirely escaped all notice by Europeans up to the present 
hour ; and, whereas, again, the grown males of the common Hog inva- 
riably dwell apart, those of the Pigmy Hog abide constantly with the 
herd, and are its habitual and resolute defenders against harm. I 
obtained my single specimen recently in the Tarai of Sikim; but I 
know that the species dwells also in the Tarai of Nepaul: nor have I 
any doubt it inhabits as far north-west and south-east, as the saul 
forest extends, though such are its rarity and secludedness, that know- 
ing of its existence and anxious to procure it as I have been for 15 
years past, I have only just succeeded. Even the aborigines whose 
home is the forest, seldom see and still seldomer obtain it, much as 
they covet it for its delicious flesh, and eagerly as they search for it on 
that account ; and an old Mech who brought me mine, informs me that 
in 50 years’ abode in the Sal-bari or Saul forest, though a hunter 
every season, he never got but 3 or 4 of these much desiderated 
animals to eat, partly owing to their scarcity and partly to the speed 
with which the females and young disperse, and to the extraordinary 
vigour and activity with which the males defend themselves whilst 
their families are retreating. 

That so tiny an animal sheuld effectually resist men must seem 

3K 


426 On a new form of the Hog kind or Suide. | May, 


almost incredible, and yet I am credibly assured that even when the 
annual clearance of the undergrowth of the forest by fire occasionally 
reveals the Pigmy Hogs, and the herd is thus assailed at advantage, the 
males with the help of rough and unopen ground really do resist with 
wonderful energy and frequent success, charging and cutting the naked 
legs of their human or other attackers, with a speed that baffles the eye- 
sight and a spirit which their straight sharp laniaries renders really 
perplexing if not dangerous. The herds are not large, consisting of 5 
or 6, to 15 or 20, and the grown males, as I have said, constantly remain 
with and defend the females and young, perhaps pairing off for a short 
period in the season of love, of which there are said to be two in the 
year, and the litter to consist usually of but 3 or 4 young ones. Their 
food is chiefly roots and bulbs, but they also eat eggs, young birds, 
insects, and reptiles, having a good deal of the omnivorous propensity 
proper to the whole family (Suidz). 

The Pigmy Hog is about the size of a large Hare, and extremely — 
resembles both in form and size a young pig of the ordinary wild kind 
of about a month old, except in its dark and unstriped pelage. The 
likeness of the limbs and members to those of the common Hog is so 
close that every purpose of general description of the Pigmy Hog is 
served by pointing to that resemblance, desiring only that heed should 
be taken by the observer of the shorter jaws, and eye consequently 
placed midway between the snout and ear; of the much shorter tail, 
nude, straight, and not extending so far as the bristles of the rump; 
and, lastly, of the smallness of the inner hind toe. The ears also are 
quite nude, and the abdominal surface of the neck as well as the insides 
of the limbs and the belly, are nearly so: but the upper and lateral 
external parts are covered thickly with bristles, even longer and more 
abundant than those of the wild or tame Hog, save upon the ridge of 
the neck where the common Hog has always more or less of, and gene- 
rally a conspicuous, mane, but the Pigmy Hog, little or none. The 
hairs of the Pigmy Hog are from two inches to two and a quarter long, 
harsh, simple, or with the tips ordinarily bifidal ; and those of the face 
and outsides of the limbs shorter only than elsewhere. 

The dimensions have already been stated summarily and will be set 
down in detail below. ‘The colour of the animal is a black brown, or 
brown black, shaded vaguely with dirty amber, or rusty red—a result of 


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1847.] On a new form of the Hog kind or Suide. 427 


many of the bristles being partially or entirely of the latter hue, but so 
that the general surface exhibits no regular lines, nor the individual 
hairs any regular rings. The scull of the Pigmy as compared with 
that of the common Hog exhibits a very considerable contraction of the 
great length of the facial portion or jaws in Sus proper, leaving no room 
for the extra molars of the common Hog, which has seven in each jaw, 
above and below, whereas our tiny friend has only six ; by zygomee less 
curved and bulging; by smooth maxillars and intermaxillars, so unlike 
the rugged outline of these bones caused in the common hog by the 
retroversion of the canines ; and, lastly, by orbits more nearly complete, 
having larger processes from the zygome as well as from the frontals. 
And now, first pledging myself to transmit to the Society without 
delay all the further information I may obtain relative to the habits or 
the structure of this interesting species, which if obtained alive and 
induced to breed in captivity, would be to the ordinary pork of the 
larder what the delicious Gaini beef is to the flesh of the common Ox, 
I conclude with the detail of dimensions, and with pointing attention to 
the accompanying accurate drawings of my accomplished draftsman. 
RememIROO VOI sc si oe. eet we se veo wkd ala elele hh aire 


se Sopp RRP) OS Celene . sats AO WsOhn 
Tail, eee HT Ome Ge 
Fore leg, ee to Map of Hager! PEE NR OU BASS ez 
Mereies, heelitoxdittoss Ace. eee Ok 0 4 4 
fiemeth of iear,vfrom front). to oles bes. Gnd Zz 
emeiaieny.( A Seon Sever se ds aleei@yod 8 
meme eyo fi HTT ENE SOS eR 0 ON. 9 110 
ere trevor ay SOR ue LOOSE Coe WBS. was, 0 3 @ 
Pemerwmrcersy 220, 208s Meret te a), CA Sune Ol Brrs 
Goes bebwid*shoulder}!)) 8.6030. vudeide. ee hid Vis 
Bere on fore oul: Y./F0 HII sy 0 012 
BI Neg Mee ease wics =e 0 0 ¢ 
err elie Ho le NT ata we da ses vice Gots cass 24d ADS? 

| SKULL 

Oa ae re ls lads NaF sayslins> vost Soy hws nasil eas Greta ae 
eemamrer ren eras ctr ke ee eae 0 2 4 
Weight, .. Sie ite walle. « Sand han cee 
Symp. srlsiaides to fate ‘anil of Sait ale dalton Sel trey 


428 Notiees and Descriptions of various [May, 


Teeth § 3:4 $$ = 40; the two first molars only, on each side, false 
and compressed, and not the three first as in Sus, which has 4, or one 
more, above and below. Tushes moderately elongated and not much 
eurved—according to information and to the specimen, which latter, on 
this point only, is hardly adequate to fix the type. 


SOLOOLODLOPOPPPPLLLPPPFVIVFYPLLPPVPVVPUPUYIVLITII 


Notices and Descriptions of various New or Iattle Known Species of 
Birds. By Ev. Buytn, Curator of the Asiatic Society's Museum. 
(Continued from page 157.) 


Motaeillide. This is a strongly marked family of birds, especially 
characterized by the lengthened and pointed tertiaries (as in the Plovers 
and Sandpipers), by the regular double moult,* and by the ambulatory 
gait of the species. I consider them to be nearly allied by affinity, 
neither to the Enicurt nor to the Larks ; although the Water Wagtails 
resemble, to a certain extent, the former in their colours, as is common- 
ly the case with animals frequenting the same haunts ; and the Pipits 
resemble, in like manner, the Larks, not only in colouring but in the 
elongation of the hind-claw. | 

Motacilla, L. (as now restricted), Of this there are three Indian 
species. 

M. maderaspatana, Brisson (nec Lin.): M. maderaspatensis, Gm. ; 
M. maderas et M. variegata, Stephens (nec variegata, Vieillot) ; M. 
picata, Franklin: Pied Wagtail of Latham. Inhabits Upper India, 
and the peninsula; but I have never known it to occur below the 
Rajmahl hills in Lower Bengal, though Calcutta is given as the locality 
of a specimen in Rev. Zool. &c., 1839, p. 40. The skin referred to 
may have been brought from Calcutta ; but it may be doubted whether 
the fresh bird was obtained there. I have once seen it from Dar- 
jeeling; but never from the countries eastward of the Bay of Bengal. 


* Mr. Yarrell remarks—“ Having frequently examined specimens of our Wagtails 
in the spring of the year when they were assuming either their change of colour or the 
additional brilliancy of tint, peculiar to the breeding season, without finding any new 
feathers in progress, I am induced to consider the vernal change in these birds as so 
many instances of alteration effected in the colour of the old feathers, and not a change 
of the feathers themselves.” ‘ British Birds,’ 1, 383. My own observation, both in Eng- 
land and in India, and in caged birds as well as in wild ones, is directly the reverse. I 
have shot many during the vernal moult (Motacilla, Budytes, and Anthus), and have 
even found it difficult to get one that was not changing its feathers. 


1847.| New or Little Known Species of Birds. 429 


M. luzoniensis, Secopoli: M. alba, var. y, Lath., (both founded on 
la Bergeronette & coilier de Tile de Lucon of Sonnerat): M. dukhu- 
nensis, Sykes ; M. leucopsis, Gould; M. alboides, Hodgson; M. alba 
of Jerdon’s list. Very common throughout India (with some partial 
exceptions*) and the Malay countries, visiting the plains in the cold 
weather; the appearance of this familiar little bird, and the harsh 
chattering of Lanius phenicurus, being generally the earliest signs of 

the approach of that season. The common Indian Wagtail is nearly 
allied to M. alba and M. Yarrellii of Europe; but has a larger patch 
of white on the forehead, the throat is white at all seasons, and there 
is much more white on the wings. Back of the male black in nuptial 
plumage. 

M. boarula, L. This European species is also common throughout 
India and Malasia ; specimens from Java, &c. absolutely resembling: 
those from England. It even inhabits Australia. 

Nemoricola, nobis. With the general form of Budytes, this com- 
bines the short hind-claw of Motacilla, and a peculiar disposition of 
colours, alike different from other Wagtails and from the Pipits. 
Haunts sylvan, and general habits much the same as those of the Tree 
Pipit, except that I am not aware of its ever mounting singing into the 
air, or that it even sings at all. In this respect (the total absence of 
song) Budytes differs both from Motacilla and Anthus; and the | 
humble Lark-like efforts to soar a little way into the air, singing all 
the while, seem peculiar among this group to the Pipits. 

N. indica ; Motacilla indica, Gmelin (founded on la Bergeronette 
grise des Indes of Sonnerat): M. variegata, Vieillot (nec Stephens). 
India generally, Arracan, and Malacca; but nowhere a common species, 
so far as I can learn. In the vicinity of Calcutta, I have obtained it at 
all seasons. 

Budytes, Cuvier._ The Yellow Wagtails with long hind-claw. 

fe wh. B citreola, Any B. calcaratus, Hodgson.¢  Tolerably common, 
more so perhaps above Rajmahl, in Bengal, where it occurs in flocks. 


* Mr. Jerdon never observed it in the Carnatic, 

+ Mr. Gray adopts this latter name, in his Catalogue of Mr. Hodgson’s specimens 
presented to the British Museum: but the Indian species (examples of which were 
presented to this Society by Mr. H.) seems to accord wholly with the descriptions of 
B. citreola ; from which I cannot help doubting its distinctness. It appears that Mr. 
Gray has also more recently described the same bird as B, citreoloides, Hodgson, 


430 Notices and Descriptions of various { May, 


From the province of Mymunseng Mr. Frith has presented the Society 
with a beautiful specimen, having the back deep black ! 

B. viridis, (Gm.), founded on Brown’s figure, pl. 33: B. melanoce- 
phala, Savi, and also of Sykes; probably B, beema, Sykes; and B. 
neglecta, melanocephala, et flava, of Jerdon’s list ;* Blue-headed Wag- 
tail of Latham ; and his Wagtail Lark is the female of either this or 
the next species. Ina very interesting paper on the birds of Corfu, 
&c. (dann. Mag. N. H. 1843, p. 416), it is stated that the Yellow 
Wagtail of that part differs from the English one, in having the head 
in the breeding season of a jet-black, at other times of a lead-colour. 
This black-headed species is common in Afghanistan; and it would 
seem also to be that found generally in peninsular India, and in the 
west ; but never in Lower Bengal, that I am aware of. Having no 
specimens, I cannot point out any difference that its hyemal garb may 
exhibit from that of the next species. 

B. flava (? Lin.) : Motacilla bistrigata, Raffles ; perhaps B. beema, 
Sykes ; B. cinereocapilla (?), of southern Europe ; B. neglecta (7), 
Gould. Several species of Budytes are puzzling in the extreme, from 
their general similarity combined with the variation to which each is 
subject. Mr. Gould first distinguished the common British species 
from that equally common on the European continent, both of which 
had been confounded under B. flava, (Lin.); as he likewise did the 
British and continental Pied Wagtails, that had been confounded under 
Mot. alba; and the respective Rock Pipits which had been alike classed 
as Anthus aquaticus.t It is very curious and remarkable that, in each 
of these instances, the common British species is extremely rare (even 
if they have all been yet noticed,) in the neighbouring continental coun- 
tries, and vice versd. Fortunately, the Society now possesses fine 
specimens of each of the six, which enables me the better to form an 
opinion respecting their Indian equally near affines.t In the common 
British Budytes, now B. Rati, Pr. Bonap., particularly in summer 


* Mr. Jerdon now considers these to be the same, vide Madr. Journ. No. xxxi, 132. 

+ The American species figured under this name in the Fauna Americana-borealis, 
is distinct again, being the A. ludovicianus, Bonap. 

¢ Since writing the above, I have come to the conclusion that two Norwegian speci- 
mens sent as A. obscurus, are neither that species nor A. aquaticus ; but merely dark 
specimens of A. pratensis in summer dress, shot late in the season. 


1847.] New or Little Known Species of Birds. 431 


dress, the male has the whole head bright yellowish, very yellow in 
some towards the forehead, and there is constantly a bright yellow 
supercilium. In B. flava, (Lin.), v. neglecta, Gould, the common 
species of northern Europe, the head is of a dull ash-colour, with—it 
is said invariably*—-a white supercilium ; though this is so little de- 
veloped in one of two Norwegian specimens before me, that I cannot 
but question its alleged permanency. In the Indian B. bistrigata, 
again, (which Mr. Strickland identifies with einereocapilla of southern 
Europe,) the fully mature male in breeding plumage has the head and 
nape fine dark ashy, with no trace of supercilium ; the ear-coverts 
darker ; and throat (or rather chin) white, spreading laterally to contrast 
with the dark ear-coverts: a specimen so coloured is mentioned in 
Mr. Jerdon’s notice of his B. melanocephala, and supposed by him to 
be probably the female of that bird; but younger specimens exhibit 
a white supercilinm in every degree of development, and many of these 
certainly cannot be distinguished from the European flava; which, 
after all, I suspect will prove to be the very same. Indeed, the note 
would seem to be quite similar, being, in both, weaker and less articu- 
late than in B. Raii ; and it is more common to see these birds about 
watery places than is the case with the British species.t But what- 
ever its true name, the subject of the present notice is one of the com- 
monest of Bengal birds, frequenting the open country in straggling 
flocks during the cold season, and disappearing as they assume the 
nuptial dress. On the Calcutta maidan, where a large herd of cattle 
are generally grazing, regardless of the hottest sun (which is a remark- 
able trait of Bos indicus), each one will commonly have its attendant 
Budytes keeping to the shadow of the beast’s foot, watching for the 
insects which it rouses from the grass at every step. 

Anthus, Bechstein: comprising Corydalla, Vigors, and Agrodoma, 
Swainson. If any subdivisions could be admitted in this natural (and 
very difficult) group, the Tree Pipits would appear to have the best 
claim to be separated from the rest: the form to which the names 
Corydalla and Agrodoma have been applied, serving to connect the 


* “ The grey-headed birds without a white supercilium are never found in the north 
of Europe.” Strickland, Ann. Mag. N. H., 1844, note to p. 115. 

+t The plumage of the females of B. bistrigata is very much yellower, and more ap- 
proaching that of the males, than in B, Raii, 


432 Notices and Descriptions of various [May, 


Tree Pipits with those allied to 4. pratensis, obscurus, &c. ; though 
where to trace the line of separation, at all satisfactorily, seems quite 
impossible, albeit Mr. Swainson has classed his Anthus and Agrodoma 
in distinct and widely separated natural families. The Tree Pipits (to 
which, if it be thought necessary to separate them, the name Dendron- 
anthus may be applied), are distinguished by shorter tarsi, a less 
elongated and more curved hind-claw, and a comparatively short and 
less slender bill than in many others: they resort to open woodlands, 
and perch often; and their gait and general manners are different from 
those of other Pipits (as may be well observed by keeping them in con- 
finement). Their actions are more deliberate, and they have not the 
habitual rapid run of other Pipits and Wagtails ; neither, in captivity, 
are they at all peckish and quarrelsomely disposed towards their 
companions, as is eminently the case with the Motacilla and Budytes 
genera, and with the Rock and Meadow Pipit of England and the 
species allied to them. I might point out other differences of the kind, 
the ensemble of which imparts a very distinct subgeneric character to 
the Tree Pipits; but such distinctions are not to be recognised in the 
dry skins with which the systematist is compelled principally to deal : 
and I shall proceed to range all the Indian species in Anthus proper, 
commencing with the arboreal Pipits, of which I think two species are 
before me.* 

1. A. trivialis, (L.): A. arboreus, Bechstein. This species, the most 
migratory of the European Pipits, (or a near affine to it,) abounds in 
Lower Bengal during the cold season, and, it would seem, in suitable 
localities throughout the country: frequenting groves and gardens, 
with a disposition to be social, if not gregarious; and where an extent 
of thin tree-jungle harbours them in considerable numbers, I have noticed 
that, towards evening, they commonly fly to and fro over their haunts 
in scattered parties; now perhaps two or three, then several, and then 
perchance a solitary bird, each frequently uttermg a slight chirp, and often 
several descending to alight for a while near together on the same tree : 
this restlessness they will continue to evince till it is getting dark ; and 
it would scarcely be guessed what bird it was, till one had been brought. 
down. I never heard the species sing in this part of the world: and 
its (hyemal) dress is different from that with which we are more 


* The Tree Pipits certainly approximate the American genus Seiurus. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 433 


familiar in Europe; the upper-parts being uniform greenish-olive, with 
strongly marked dusky streaks on the crown, and slight dark centres 
to the dorsal feathers; and the breast-spots are very broad and black. 
A specimen from Nepal exhibits the summer plumage, having the 
upper-parts much paler and fulvescent, with the dark centres to the 
feathers considerably more developed; and the breast-spots are less 
interse and Thrush-like.* 

A specimen shot out of a flock by the river-side, by the memorable 
battle-field of Palasi (Plassey), is perhaps distinct : the billis larger ; the 
general size above the average of 4. trivialis ; and there is much more 
of the dusky colour on the dorsal feathers (it being broader on each in- 
dividual feather); but the plumage is considerably worn and abraded. 
The following description was taken of it when fresh. Length six inches 
and a half, by eleven inches ; wing three and a half; tail two and three- 
quarters ; bill to gape eleven-sixteenths of an inch ; tarse three-quarters; 
hind-claw five-sixteenths.¢ Irides dark: bill dusky above, sullied 
carneous below ; feet light brownish-carneous. The ensemble of the 
upper-parts of this specimen differs much from either that of the nuptial 
or non-breeding dress of ordinary arboreus ; but I suspect it is merely 
the former, that had not been cast at the usnal moulting period, but 
retained till the month of February, becoming proportionately abraded. 

2. A. Richardi, Vieillot. This species must be very common in 
Lower Bengal, from the number occasionally brought and sold fer 
‘Ortolans’ in the Calcutta bazar, especially after the season for Ca/an- 
drella brachydactyla has passed, and even so late as May: but in the 
few excursions which I have made, I have never chanced to fall in with 
them at all plentifully. Those I have observed and shot have been 
chiefly in cultivated land, and they not unfrequently perch on the sum- 


* Since the above was written, Capt. Boys has favoured the Society with a specimen 
from N. W. India, which I at once recognized as the European Tree Pipit; of which 
latter a specimen has been received more recently from England. ‘he common Indian 
bird has the upper-parts very nearly as plain as those of Seturus auricapillus, and of the 
same hue ; the under-parts being equally Thrush-like, but tinged with fulvous. I have 
kept the European bird in confinement for years, aud regularly noticed its vernal and 
autumnal changesof plumage. —It seems that Mr. Gray has described the ordinary Indian 
Tree Pipit, in his ‘ Zoological Miscellany,’ as A. muculatus et A. brevirostris, Hodgson. 

+t Among the admeasurements of several individuals of the common speeies, ] find one 


precisely agreeing with the above, aud others nearly approximating. 


434 Notices and Descriptions of various (May, 


mit of a small tree; emitting, before they fly, a chirp not unlike a 
Sparrow’s. 

These birds vary in size ; the male being generally about seven inches 
and a half, or seven and five-eighths (sometimes nearly eight inches), 
long, by twelve to twelve and a half in alar expanse ; closed wing three 
inches and five-eighths to three and seven-eighths ; and tail three inches 
to three and a quarter: tarse generally an inch and a quarter, or at 
most an eighth less; and long hind-claw commonly about five-eighths, 
sometimes prolonged to above three-quarters of an inch. Bill dusky 
above, yellow at base of lower mandible, and duller yellow anteriorly 
sometimes to near the tip; legs yellowish-brown, very yellow on the 
soles; inside of mouth bright yellow in adults. Younger individuals 
have the interior of the mouth faintly lutescent carneous ; and the base 
of the lower mandible much the same. 

Such are the common dimensions of this species: but I once obtain- 
ed a male, so different in appearance from others shot on the same 
occasion, that I was inclined to regard it as distinct, until examination 
of an extensive series convinced me of the contrary: the specimen 
differs most remarkably in its conspicuously shorter tarsi and toes ; the 
streakiness of its crown is more decided and strongly marked than 
usual; and there is less white on its outer tail-feathers, and that more 
sharply defined. Length seven inches and three quarters by eleven and 
three-quarters ; wing three and five-eighths ; tail two and seven-eighths ; 
tarse only an inch; middle toe without claw not three-quarters; and 
hind-toe (minus claw) but half an inch, instead of nine-sixteenths to five- 
eighths of an inch. The brevity of tarse corresponds with Yarrell’s 
figure of the leg of this species, in ‘ British Birds,’ I, 388 ; but the toes 
of the latter are more of the ordinary development. 

Richard’s Pipit occurs in collections from the Himalaya and from 
Arracan; but Mr. Jerdon enumerates it as a rarity in the south of 
India. The Anth. australis, Vieillot, if not identical, must be nearly 
allied, to judge from the description of it on the Dict, Class. ; and this 


b] 


is referred to ‘ Australasia,” a name of doubtful signification, since 
some authors confound it with Australia, while others intend by it the 
great Oriental Archipelago and neighbouring mainland; for which 
Austral-Asia is by no means a bad appellation.* 


* The Society has since received what is doubtless the true Anth. australis, from 


1847. ] New or Little Known Species of Birds. 435 


3. A. similis: Agrodoma similis, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. No. XXVI, 
35. This fine species equals the largest specimens of 4d. Richardt in 
size, but has the shorter tarse of the individual last described, and also 
a shorter and much more curved hind-claw. It is further readily dis- 
tinguished by the strong ferruginous tinge of the pale portion of its 
plumage, as especially the under-parts and margins of all the wing- 
feathers ; and the upper-parts are less streaky than in 4. Richardi, 
with a prevailing dusky hue and slight admixture of ashy on the hghter 
edgings of the dorsal feathers. Tail having its outermost feather dark, 
obliquely tipped for its terminal third with ruddy-whitish, which extends 
up the whole narrow outer web; and the penultimate feather is tipped, 
for about a quarter of an inch only, with the same. Length of wing 
three inches and seven-eighths; of tail three and one-eighth ; tarse an 
inch ; and hind-claw (straight from base to tip) but three-eighths. 
From southern India ; and Lord Arthur Hay lately obtained a specimen 
in Jummoo, in the N. W. Himalaya. 

4. A. montana, Jerdon, MS.: A. rufescens apud Jerdon,, Catal. 
This also is a strongly marked species, deeply tinged with fulvous, 
with strongly contrasting broad blackish central streaks to the feathers 
of the upper-parts. Bill short, and tolerably strong; the tarse short, 
and hind-claw moderately curved. The tail has its outer feather dull 
isabella-white for the terminal two-thirds, obliquely separated as usual 
from the dark base ; the penultimate has the terminal third of the same 
hue; and both, with the antepenultimate, have their extreme tips pure 
white. Wing three inches and one-eighth ; tail two and three-quarters ; 
bill to gape eleven-sixteenths; tarse seven-eighths; and hind-claw 
(straight from base to tip) half an inch. Inhabits the grassy hills of 
the Neilgherries, where tolerably common. Mr. Jerdon has occasion- 
ally observed it to perch. 

5. A. striolatus, nobis, x. s. Allied in appearance to the last, but 
distinguished by its longer bill and tarse, straighter hind-claw, and the 
much purer white of the outer tail-feathers, though these are a little 
creamy on their exterior webs only. The general cast of colour is also 
less brightly fulvous, and the dark central streaks are less deep and con- 
trasting ; presenting a general difference which is obvious to the eye, 


Sydney; and excepting that its toes and claws are still shorter, it agrees most closely 
with the single speeimen above deseribed, shot on the upper Hoogly. 


a Be? 


456 Notices and Descriptions of various [May, 


though scarcely expressible in words : a more available distinction con- 
sists in the flanks being streakless, whereas in the preceding species 
they are conspicuously streaked throughout ; and the wing-edgings are 
also much more albescent. ‘Length of wing three inches and three- 
eighths ; of tail two and five-eighths ; bill to gape three-quarters ; 
tarse an inch; hind-claw half an inch. I obtained a single specimen 
of this bird from a collection made at Darjeeling ; and Mr. Jerdon has 
since procured several in the neighbourhood of Nellore, on the Coro- 
mandel coast.* 

6. A. malayensis, Eyton: A. agilis apud Jerdon, Catal. ; A. pallescens 
apud Sundevall.+ Nearly allied to the last, but distinguished by its smaller 
size, by the less contrasted streakings of the back, and especially of the 
head, and by the fewer spots on the breast. In one specimen before me, 
from Assam, the pectoral spots are so few, that the bird might be mistak- 
en for A. rufulus. Length of wing commonly three inches and one-eighth, 
sometimes less; of tail two anda quarter; bill to gape eleven six- 
teenths of an inch; tarse aninch; long hind-claw commonly half an 
inch. To facilitate comparison, I have given the admeasurement of 
bill to gape from dry specimens, in which it is less than im the fresh 
bird. The young have dark upper-parts, each dorsal feather being 
narrowly margined round with whitish ; coverts and tertiaries the same ; 
and the breast has many more spots than in the adult. In this dress, 
the species presents more the appearance of a young Lark, than I have 
seen in any other Pipit. It is one of the commonest birds of Lower 
Bengal during the cold season, in all open places; and a few remain 
throughout the year: habits, much as in 4. pratensis; and song very 
insignificant, a mere repetition of one note, as often mounting some forty 
or fifty feet into the air, it descends sailing to the ground in the usual 
manner of the birds of this genus. It also appears to be very generally 
diffused throughout India, as well as in the countries eastward of the 


* In Mr. Gray’s catalogue of Mr. Hodgson’s specimens presented to the British 
Museum, A. striolatus, Bl., is set down as a synonyme of A. rufescens; but it does not 
appear upon what authority, and the species assuredly does not accord with the descrip- 
tions of A. rufescens. A. pelopus, H., as described in Mr. Gray’s appendix to that 
catalogue, would seem to differ only in its shorter tarse. 

+ Add Cichlops whiquitarius, Hodgson, Gray, Zool. Misc. ; and a wearisome list of 
other synonymes from the same source are corrected in Mr. Gray’s catalogue cited in the 
preceding note, which I cannot but think it much to be regretted were ever published. 


1847. | New or Tittle Known Species of Birds. 437 


Bay of Bengal, down to the Straits of Malacca; and (as Mr. Eyton 
remarks) it is probably the Sumatran dlauda pratensis apud Raiiles. 

7. A. agilis, Sykes. Until recently, Mr. Jerdon and myself have 
referred the preceding species to this one; but Mr. Strickland (to whom 
Mr. Jerdon sent specimens of the former) pronounces them to be dis- 
tinct, and I am unacquainted with the true agzlis of the Deccan. 

8. A. rufulus, Vieillot. Nearly allied to 4. malayensis, but distin- 
guished by its larger size, much shorter hind-claw, and by the absence, 
frequently, of any spots on the breast, which, when they occur, are 
few in number, small and inconspicuous: the dark centres of the 
dorsal feathers are also obscure, or even obsolete ; but a narrow dark 
central streak to each feather is more or less developed on the crown. 
Length six inches and three-quarters, by ten and three-quarters ; closed 
wing three inches and a half; tail two and a half: hind-claw seldom 
exceeding three-eighths of an inch. From the bare stony plains of the ~ 
central table-land of the peninsula of India; and I recently obtained 
a few on similar ground near Midnapore. 

9. <d. pratensis, (L.) Mr. Gould has seen specimens of this com- 
mon British species from Western India, according to Mr. Yarrell, 
‘ British Birds,’ I. 392.* 

10. A. aquaticus (?), Bechstein: if distinct, 4. roseatus, Hodgson. 
Mr. Hodgson sent this bird under two or three names ; but on careful 
comparison of many, and looking particularly to the growing feathers of 
moulting birds, I'am satisfied of the series being throughout specifi- 
cally identical. They also accord with my recollection of the European 
A. aquaticus (nec obscurus of Britain), respecting which Mr. Gould (as 
cited by Mr. Yarrell), remarks :—‘“‘ We have some reason to believe that 
there are two species of Rock Pipits nearly allied to each other, as we 
have never been able to find in any of the examples killed in the British 
Islands that uniform vinous tint we have observed to pervade the breast 
of continental examples ; neither have we been able to meet with any 
specimens in continental collections, that strictly accord with the dull 
and indistinct markings of those of the British Islands:’’ to which I 


* Mr. Gray refers the A. hortulanus, Hodgson, n. s., to this species ; but the specimens 
which Mr. H. presented to this Society by the name cited, were decidedly of the 
Indian type of A. arboreus, to which the appellation hortwlanus is better applicable. 

+ This Mr. Gray refers to A. cervinus ; Motacilla cervina, Pallas: A. rufogularis, 
Brehm, 


438 Notices and Descriptions of various | May, 


may add, (from my own notes,) that the absence of pure white on the 
exterior tail-feathers is a further distinction of the British species, 
though there is always a pale external and terminal portion. I believe, 
too, that there is this distinction in their habits, that while the conti- 
nental species is met with far mland, the British 4. obscurus keeps 
almost wholly to the immediate vicinity of the sea; the only instance I 
have known to the contrary (and I believe none has hitherto been 
recorded), being that of one taken in a bird-catcher’s net near London, 
which I kept for some two or three years in a cage. Now the Nepal bird 
conforms to all these indications of 4. aquaticus, unless it be that the 
streaking of its upper-parts is too strongly brought out ; and it appears 
that, at one season (probably that of breeding), the lower-parts, to judge 
from several moulting specimens im different stages of advancement, but 
none complete, become throughout of a faint vinous-roseate hue, with 
the pectoral spots much contracted ; while, at another season, the rosy 
tinge wholly disappears, the lower-parts becoming weak fulvescent, 
with the dark spots much larger and broader. The bend of the wing, 
and margins of the secondaries, are yellowish green, not unfrequently 
rather bright, but sometimes this colour is scarcely observable ; and the 
axillaries, and anterior margin of the wing beneath, incline to sulphur- 
yellow: outermost tail-feather dullish white externally, but tipped, as 
is also the next, with purer white. Length of wing generally three 
inches and a half, or an eighth less or more; of tail, commonly two 
and three-quarters ; tarse seven-eighths ; and hind-claw generally three- 
eighths. Inhabits the Himalaya? (Nepal.) A single specimen differs 
from the rest in having the upper-parts plainer, especially the head, 
which is scarcely striated ; and the pectoral and flank spots are smaller 
and more contracted than usual: probably the nestling dress, a little 
abraded.* 

Among what are termed the “ Warblers,” comparatively few have 
hitherto found a place in Indian Ornithology, to what the general 
analogy of other countries would lead us to suppose exist. The genus 
Curruca, so largely developed in Europe, has only three ascertained 
representatives. 


* Add, as an eleventh Indian species, upon the authority of Mr. Gray’s catalogue 
before referred to, A. rufescens, Tem., v. campestris, Bechst., vy. Cichlops thermophilus, 
Hodgson, Gray’s Zool. Misc., p. 83. 


1847:| - New or Little Known Species of Birds. 439 


1. C. orphea apud Jerdon ; nec orphea vera, as I have been assur- 
ed: probably Blach-headed Warbler of Latham. This Indian species 
combines the characters of the European C. atricapilla and C. sylviella, 
but has a much larger and longer bill than either, which tends a little 
to be incurved. Length of wing three inches and a quarter, of tail two 
and three-quarters ; bill to gape three-quarters of an inch; and tarse 
-seven-eighths. Colour brownish-ashy above, whitish beneath, pure 
white on the throat and middle of belly ; cap, including lores and upper 
ear-coverts, black in the male, dusky or blackish-grey in the female ; 
the nape and rump comparatively pure ashy : tail blackish ; its outermost 
feather externally white for the basal two-thirds, obliquely separated ; 
the next four successively less broadly tipped with white: bill dusky, 
with whitish base to lower mandible ; and feet plumbeous. From south- 
ern India. Ifa new species, C. Jerdoni, nobis. 

2. C. affinis, nobis, XIV, note to p. 564: C. cinerea apud Jerdon, 
Catal., vide loc. cit. Hitherto only observed in southern India. 

3. C. sylviella, (Gm.): C. garrula, Brisson, and of Sykes and 
Jerdon. Since writing the note referred to in the preceding notice, 
I have not only received C. sylviella from Mr. Jerdon, entirely agreeing 
with British specimens, but have myself shot a-pair, about a hundred 
miles above Calcutta. I observed many of them frequenting the baubul 
Mimose, in little parties; and, as in England, keeping chiefly to the 
trees, and not to low bush-covert, as is the habit of C. sylvia (v. 
cinerea). 

M. Temminck mentions having received a female of C. atricapilla, 
the melodious British Blackcap, from Java; in which case it would 
probably be also an Indian bird: and I am very greatly mistaken if I 
did not, upon one occasion, observe C. hortensis, another charming 
British songster, in this neighbourhood, both seeing the bird, as far as 
I could make it out among the foliage, and recognising its familiar 
notes; though having my gun loaded with heavy shot, and being upon 
the look out for more redoubtable game, I did not secure the specimen. 

Calamoherpe, Boie. Three species of this genus are noticed in XIV, 
594-5, and one of them again in XV, 288. In Madr. Journ. No XXXI, 
_ 130, Mr. Jerdon, following Mr. Strickland, identifies C. montana with 
the British C. salicaria. This is a mistake, unless Mr. Jerdon has 


confounded two species under montana, which is improbable. More 


440 Notices and Descriptions of various [May, 


recently, he has favoured me with his montana of southern India, 
which is identical with the Bengal species. I have pomted out the 
distinctions, Joe. cit. ; and may add that the songs of the two species 
are altogether different, that of C. montana being a low soft warble.* 
C. montana is probably the Sylvia arundinacea, var. A, of Latham. 

Phyllopneuste, vide XIV, 593. Mr. Jerdon has sent me two very 
closely allied races which he thinks have been confounded under PA, . 
rama. The one he regards as true rama, which is of a more rufescent 
brown colour; the other has a more greyish shade. I can hardly, 
however, bring myself to admit their distinctness. The latter variety 
occurs abundantly in Lower Bengal, upon the sandy soil above the tide- 
way of the Hoogly, haunting baubul topes and scattered trees near 
villages, as well as hedges and low bush-jungle; and I have recent- 
ly observed it in the jungles north and west of Midnapore. The 
following are my notes, taken from several recent specimens. Length 
five inches, by seven and a half in alar expanse ; wing two inches and 
three-eighths, to two and a half; tail two inches to two and one-eighth, 
its outermost feather an eighth of an inch shorter: bill to gape five- 
eighths of an inch; tarse three-quarters. Inides dark: bill dusky 
above, pale carneous below: inside of mouth yellow: legs light brown, 
tinged with plumbeous on the joints. Length of first primary, five- 
eighths of an inch and upwards. Colour above greyish-brown, below 
pale, passing to white at the vent and on the lower tail-coverts ; lores, 
continued as a streak passing the eye, pale. 

Culicipeta, nobis, XII, 968. I obtained a very beautiful species of 
this genus a few miles above Calcutta. 

C. cantator, (Tickell,) J. 4. 8. II, 576.+ Length four inches and a 
quarter, by six and three-eighths in alar expanse ; wing two inches 
and a quarter; and tail an inch and three-quarters: bill to gape nearly 


* Mr. Jerdon has also sent a British specimen of C. salicaria, which certainly approxi- 
mates to montana more than two others in the Society’s collection do; these three being 
unquestionably of the same species: all, however, are of a more rufescent and less 
greenish shade than C. montana ; the bill of C. salicaria is narrower; and, as above 
remarked, the notes of the two species are exceedingly unlike, which, I think, of itself 
decides the question. Mr. Jerdon suggests that C. agricola may perhaps be the C. pulus- 
tris of Europe. 

t C. schisticeps of Mr. Gray’s catalogue of Mr. Hodgson’s specimens presented to the 
British Museum, pp. 67, 153. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 44] 


five-eighths ; and tarse five-eighths of an inch. Bill light dusky above, 
amber-coloured below; legs light yellowish-carneous, with a leaden 
tinge: bill narrower than in C. Burkii; and the rictal sete are less 
developed ; the claws, especially that of the hind-toe, being shorter. 
Colour, a lively yellowish-green above, bright yellow on the throat, 
cheek, supercilium, lower tail-coverts, and edge of the wing above the 
insertion of the quills: the great alars are also margined externally 
with greenish-yellow, and the tail more especially towards its base : 
greater wing-coverts tipped with pale yellow, forming a bar on the 
wing: the entire abdomen and flanks greyish-white: on each side of 
the crown a broad black longitudinal band, divided by a yellowish-green 
mesial one: upper tertiaries very slightly margined at the tips with 
yellowish-white ; and the tail-feathers having a narrow yellowish-white 
internal border. Shot near Calcutta. 

C. poliogenys, nobis, n. s. This is nearly allied to Abrornis schis- 
ticeps, Hodgson, (XIV, 592,) from which it differs in having the cheeks 
and ear-coverts, with the feathers commencing from the base of the lower 
mandible, of the same ash-grey colour as the head, and the throat greyish 
white, instead of these parts being bright yellow, as in C. schisticeps. 
There is also a conspicuous whitish-yellow wing-band, of which the 
latter species presents no trace whatever. From Darjeeling. 

It is exceedingly difficult to arrange the great series of the birds of 
this group at all satisfactorily ; and I fear that we shall have eventually 
to adopt many divisions among them. Of the various species allied in 
colouring and markings to Culicipeta Burkii, that bird stands alone in 
several particulars, as the more decided fly-catching form of bill, and 
accompanying development of the rictal sete; also the longer and 
more slender, though equally curved, claws. Although the species 
upon which the division was originally founded, I regard it as an 
aberrant member of its genus, though Mr. Hodgson would separate from 
it the others by the name Abrornis, XIV, 592. Retaining, how- 
ever, the near Culicipeta for the series, I think we must refer to it— 
2, C. schisticeps,* (Hodg., loc. cit.) 3, C. poliogenys,—A, C. cantator, 


* This is Phyllopneuste vanthoschistos, Hodgson, of Gray’s catalogue ; and Culicipeta 
schisticeps of the same is C. cantator, (Tickell). Abrornis chloronotus, Hodg., Gray, so 
far as I could judge from a sadly injured specimen, did not appear to me to differ from 
Regulvides modestus, (Gould, ) except in being rather brighter than usual. 

3 M 


442 Notices and Descriptions of various [May 


—5, C. pulchra, (Hodg., ibid.),—6, C. castaniceps, (Hodg., ibid.)—7, 
C. trochiloides (Acanthiza trochiloides, Sundevall, v. Ph. reguloides, 
nobis, XI, 191, and XII, 963),—and 8, C. occipitalis, (Jerdon, XIV, 
593), formerly referred by me to Phyllopneuste.* 

As another aberrant member of the same group, but which can 
scarcely range in the same minimum division with C. Burkii, though 
barely separable from C. ¢rochiloides in a subgeneric sense, we have the 
Regulus modestus, Gould, a form which, if Adrornis be detached from 
Culicipeta, would equally require to be separated, and might range as 
the type of a distinct subdivision—Reguloides, nobis. 

Then, of Phyllopneuste may be recognised two marked subdivisions ; 
that with the green plumage, typified by Ph. hippolais of Europe and 
Ph. indica: and that with brown plumage, exemplified by Ph. rama: 
the former being allied to the green species of PhyJloscopus ; the latter 
to those with brown plumage, as Ph. fuscatus and its immediate allies. 

Also, of Phylloscopus, should perhaps be distinguished the bright 
green species with long wings, such as Ph. sibilatriv and Ph. nitidus ; 
and the numerous species of the type of Ph. trochilus and Ph. rufus of 
Europe, of which I have already described—Ph. javanicus, (Horsf. v. 
magnirostris, nobis,) Ph. viridanus, Ph. lugubris, Ph. tristis, Ph. brun- 
neus, and Ph. fuscatus ; probably also the Ph. affnis, (Tickell), to 
which Mr. Jerdon refers his Sylvia indica. 

The last appears to be a bird which I long regarded as the young 
(in the yellow dress) of Ph. lugubris; and which Mr. Jerdon thinks 
is his Ph. indicus, but wishes to see a recent specimen before he 
quite decides that it is so. That it is distinct from PA. lugudris, I am 
now satisfied ; and must not omit to state that Prof. Behn, of Kiel 
University, first pointed out to me the specifical distinctions of the 
two, when we had fresh specimens of each before us, in the course of 
a fortnight’s trip which I had the pleasure of taking with him and 
M. Kielroup, both of the scientific corps attached to the Danish frigate 
Galatea, in quest of specimens of all kinds on the banks of the Hoogly and 
their vicinity. The following are the distinctions which I noted down 
at that time. The bill is more feeble, and much more compressed, in 
Ph. afinis ; while in Ph. lugubris it is very little compressed, approach- 
ing to the Culicipeta (i. e. Abrornis) form, and the rictal sete are 


* To the synonymes already given of C. Burkii, add Acanthiza arrogans, Sundevall. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 443: 


considerably more developed. The colour of the legs is also very 
different, being in lugudris pale greenish-dusky, while in afinis there is 
a strong tinge of brown. I have obtained numerous specimens of this 
bird, all of which were of the same dusky-green colour above, with dull 
yellow supercilium and lower-parts, brightening on the middle of the 
belly ; and I have reason to believe that this colouring is permanent— 
unlike the yellow dress of the British Ph. trochilus and Ph. rufus, 
which is not their nestling garb, but is put forth very soon after leaving 
the nest. Ph. afinis measures four inches and three-cighths to four 
and three-quarters long, by six and a half to seven inches in expanse ; 
wing two inches and one-eighth, to two and three-eighths ; and tail an 
inch and three-quarters to one and seven-eighths : bill to gape half an 
inch, or a trifle more; tarse three-quarters of an inch, or nearly so. 
Irides dark. Bill dusky above, amber-coloured below ; interior of the 
mouth bright yellow; and legs pale brownish-dusky, tinged with yel- 
low ; the soles more or less yellowish. 

Another and larger species was obtained on the same occasion, with 
very similar colouring. 

Ph. griseolus, nobis, n. s. Length five inches and a quarter, by seven 
anda quarter; wing two and five-eighths ; tail two and a quarter ; bill to 
gape mine-sixteenths ; tarse three quarters of an inch. Irides very dark 
brown; bill dusky above, below pale amber; interior of the mouth 
whitish, with scarcely a tinge of yellow ; tarse externally, and the toes 
above, light brown, internally and beneath yellow. This bird is dis- 
tinguished from Ph. afinis by its much larger size, and by the decided 
ashy tinge of its upper-parts; also by the colour of the legs in the 
recent specimen, and whitish interior of the mouth. The yellow of the 
under-parts is more confined to the central region, and a somewhat 
ruddy whitish prevails, instead of yellow, on the ear-coverts. Some 
specimens of Ph. fuscatus are so similar, except in wanting the yellow, 
that I should have been tempted to regard them as different phases of 
plumage of the same species, analogous to those exhibited by Ph. tro- 
chilus and Ph. rufus, were it not for the different proportions of the 
first primaries, besides that the wing is longer in Ph. griseolus than in 
any specimen of fuscatus yet examined. In the latter, the first pri_ 
mary is fully half the length of the second ; while im the former it does 
not exceed one-third of the length of the second: measuring from the 

3M 2 


AAA Notices and Descriptions of various | May, 


tip of the short first primary to that of the wing, Ph. fuscatus gives 
but an inch (in four specimens under examination), while Ph. griseolus 
gives an inch and a half. 

It would seem that Ph. fuscatus undergoes a certain seasonal change 
of colouring: the whole plumage being less olivaceous, and more of a 
fuscous-ashy above, with a faint ruddy tinge on the supercilium, ear- 
coverts, and slightly on the under-parts, and the bill and feet being 
darker, in a specimen shot late in April, than is observable in others 
killed during the cold weather.* Perhaps, however, the former may be 
merely a very bright old bird, and it is to this specimen in particular 
that Ph. griseolus shows a marked approximation : but the difference in 
the length of their first primaries betokens their distinctness ; and the 
latter has also the wing fully a quarter of an inch longer than in the 
other. 

Regulus cristatus, Ray. This species visits Simla, and a fine speci- 
men procured near that station has been obligingly presented to the 
Society by Capt. Thomas. It is quite undistinguishable from the 
British bird ; and the genus has not heretofore been recorded as Hima- 
layan. 

LEgithalus fammiceps, Burton, P. Z. 8. 1835, p. 153. In XIII, 379, 
I suggested that this might probably turn out to be a Stachyris, 
Hodgson: but I have lately obtained a specimen, and consider it to be 
rightly classified. The Dicaum sanguinifrons of Lord Arthur Hay, 
XV, 44, refers evidently to this bird: but the affinities of the genus do 
not seem to be with Dicceum, and indeed are: at present very obscure. 
I certainly do not think that Mgthalus approximates Parus, near 
which it has been currently arranged ; nor do I know of any Old World 
form that much resembles it. 

Parus, Lin. A synopsis of the Indian species of this group was 
attempted in XIII, 942; and a new species from the eastern ghats of 
the peninsula described in XIV, 553. I have now to add three others, 
two of which have been overlooked hitherto from their similarity to 
allied species. f 

P. aplonotus, nobis: P. xanthogenys apud nos, ues 9, and probably 

* Another, recently obtained (March 17), resembles thatabove described ; and tha 


difference from Ph. fuscatus is so marked, that I cannot help here also suspecting a 
distinetness of species. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 445 


of Jerdon. This differs from true P. xanthogenys of the Himalaya 
in various details of its markings: as in having the back plain dull 
yellowish olive-green, without the broad black lateral margins to each 
feather, conspicuous in the Himalayan species ; in having the yellow 
colouring reduced in quantity, and also less vivid, the posterior crest- 
feathers being but slightly tipped with yellow; the broad and well 
marked yellow supercilium is diminished to an elongated spot posterior 
only to the eye, there being no yellow above the eye; and the loral 
feathers, instead of bemg wholly yellow, are black with slight yellowish 
tips: the black band posterior to the eye is much broader; and the 
black throat and front of the neck very much broader, comprehending 
the feathers about the gape, which are yellow in the other species: the 
white tips to the tail-feathers are also much more developed : and, lastly, 
without descending to more minute particulars, the tertiaries are later- 
ally edged throughout with white, whereas in P. wanthogenys there is 
only a trace of this towards their base. The general resemblance, 
however, between these two species is very great: but P. wanthogenys 
is at once distinguished by the variegation of its back; and when the 
two are seen together, by the much greater quantity of yellow on the 
sides of the head and neck: while in P. aplonotus the black throat is 
conspicuously much broader, and there is a greater proportion of white 
on the wings and tail. P. aplonotus inhabits the mountains of central 
India ; and there is little doubt of its being Mr. Jerdon’s more southern 
bird referred to P. xanthogenys. 

P. Grifithi, nobis. This species is founded on a drawing of a bird 
obtained by the late Dr. Griffith, between Assam and Ava. With 
a near affinity in colouring to P. xanthogenys and P. aplonotus, it is at 
once distinguished by being crestless, and by the details of its markings. 
Length of wing about two inches and three-quarters, and of tail two 
inches and a quarter. Colour black, with the lores and sides of neck, 
the rump, under-parts, an occipital spot, and triangular terminal drops 
on the dorsal feathers, yellow ; throat and fore-neck ‘black: tail consi- 
derably forked, and tipped with white; also the greater wing-coverts 
and the tertiaries, with the base‘and edge of the primaries. 

P. rubidiventris, nobis: P. melanolophos apud Hodgson. Here, 
again, two nearly allied species have been confounded together, from 
their general resemblance: the true P. melanolophos inhabiting the 


446 Notices and Descriptions of various | May, 


N. W. Himalaya, as about Simla; and the present species, Nepal and 
Sikim. Size about the same, but the bill of P. melanolophos is con- 
spicuously more slender: the latter has also the back, and the belly, 
pure dark grey; the black of the throat and breast carried further 
down ; a ferruginous patch confined to each side of the breast, below the 
black ; and the greater and lesser wing-coverts are tipped with rufes- 
cent-white, forming two bars on the wing.—P. rubidiventris, on the 
other hand, has the upper-parts of a paler and rufescent grey, with a 
strong tinge of ferruginous upon the rump; no trace of bars on the 
wing ; the black of the throat less developed, this being bordered with 
the same grey as the back; and the whole of the abdominal region is 
tinged with dilute ferruginous. 

P. atriceps, Horsfield, will bear the prior name cinereus of Vieillot, 
founded on one of Levaillant’s figures. Itis the P. major, var. B, of 
Latham.* In my description of Sylviparus modestus, Burton, XIII, 
942, I omitted to notice the spot of silky-yellow feathers above the eye, 
upon which Mr. Hodgson founds his name seriophrys (or sericophrys 
would have been better); neither has Mr. Burton noticed it. This is 
very conspicuous, however, in the recent specimen (as I have been 
informed) ; but was completely hidden in the dry skin from which I 
drew up the notice adverted to. 

Paradoxornis group, XIV, 578. To this should probably be re- 
ferred the Australian genus Struthidea. Of Heteromorpha ruficeps, 
Capt. Tickell writes me word—“ I have killed several of these birds, 
and watched them in their wild state, at Geeng, near Darjeeling ; and 
i cannot agree in opinion with those who would class its group among 
the Crateropodines. This bird is a great devourer of grain (maize, 
rice, and buckwheat, which last is common about Nepal). It perches 
on the tops of high trees, as well as bushes, when off its feed; and in 
fact shows nothing in its manners of the thicket-loving, skulking, habits 
of the Crateropodines.” 

Of the vast series of birds comprised in, or allied to, the last named, 
many subgroups will require to be distinguished. Just upon the con- 
fines of the series, we have the Leiotrichane, comprising Cutia, Pteru- 
thius, Leiothriz and its subgenera, Ivulus, Yuhina, and even Myzornis, 
Then another minor series, comprising Sibia, Leioptila, Ixops, Actino- 


* The Society has lately received a specimen of this bird from Ceylon. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 447 


dura, Garrulax (perhaps further separable, especially the form of G. 
striatus and G. imbricatus), Crateropus of Africa, Psophodes and Sphe- 
nostoma of Australia, and finally Turnagra of Lesson (v. Keropia, G. 
R. Gray), to which the Garrulus striatus of Vigors has been referred. 
Another little section consists of Pomatorhinus and Xiphorhamphus, 
nobis, to the former of which true Timalia is nearly allied. Another 
of Menura, Pteroptochus, and Scytalopus. Another long subseries, 
of Cinclosoma, Circlorhamphus, Megalurus, Gampsorhynchus, Arundi- 
nax, Sphenura, Spheneacus, Schenicola, Laticilla, Amytis, Stipiturus, 
Malurus, Atrichea, Hylacola, Praticola (v. Calamanthus), Pellornium, 
Malacocercus, Drymoica, Cisticola, Prinia, and Orthotomus ; and 
scarcely separable would be Timalia, Mixornis, Chrysomma, Macronous, 
Turdinus, Malacopteron, Alcippe, Setaria, Erpornis (?), and Stachyris. 
How all these are to be finally disposed of, each according to its proper 
affinities, is a problem to our best ornithologists just now; and those 
who have most studied the series, will not, I believe, be the most eager 
to offer an opinion. It is easy enough to cut the Gordian knot, by car- 
rying out the principle of ranging all the large species in Merulide, 
and all the small in Sylviade, and thus manufacturing duplex series, 
presenting “beautiful analogies” and “representations” one of the 
other ; but the time has a little gone by for such frivolities, and orni- 
thologists must pursue the course adopted by students of other bran- 
ches of Natural History,—must study structure, internal as well as 
external, and learn to regard habit as altogether subordinate, inasmuch 
as species may be framed on any particular subtype of organization, 
however subordinate, and be modified upon that subtype in adaptation 
to any special mode of life,—and this too, without reference to each 
other, beyond the fortuitous one of their presenting similar modifica- 
tions, which are thus analogous merely, or by no means indicative of 
affinity, 7. e. of that intrinsical relationship upon which all legitimate 
classification must be founded. But I pass to add a few new species, 
and remarks on old species, to some of the genera that have been enu- 
merated ; having upon former occasions treated of the several Indian 
genera among them: and this having done, shall bid adieu to the 
Insessorial tribes for a while, till fresh novelties among them begin 
again to accumulate. 

Leiotrichane. (Treated of in XIII, 934 et seq., and XIV, 552). 


448 Notices and Descriptions of various [May, 


The Siva nipalensis, Hodgson, should, I now think, be referred to 4/- 
eippe, nobis, being closely allied to A. sepiaria, (Horsfield) ; and I 
doubt whether 4. Phayre?, nobis, XIV, 601, is other than an indivi- 
dual variety of S. x¢palensis, in which the blackish nuchal streaks are 
wanting. SS. npalensis, with the nuchal streaks, is not uncommon in 
Arracan. I also now think it better to class my Siva oceipitalis, XIV, 
55g, with Ixulus flavicollis, Hodgson ; modifying the diagnosis of Ivulus 
so as to comprise both species, for they are undoubtedly very closely 
allied, notwithstanding the considerable difference in form of bill. Of 
the genus Pteruthius, Mr. Hodgson has sent the following descriptions 
of what are considered by him to be two new species. 

Pt. zanthochloris, H. (Non vidi.) “Above vernal-green, below 
bright yellow. Cap slaty-blue. Throat white: alars and caudals in- 
ternally dark, the latter tipped with yellow, and albescent marginally 
on the sides. Iris dark brown. Legs fleshy-white. Bull plumbeous. 
Structure typical. Size small. Sexes alike? Length five inches ; bill 
seven-sixteenths ; tail under two inches; wing two and a quarter in 
some, nearly two and a half in other specimens ; tarse thirteen-six- 
teenths ; central toe and nail nine-sixteenths ; hind seven-sixteenths.”’ 

Pt. melanotis, H. (Non vidi.) ‘Structure typical. Closely allied 
in size and otherwise to the preceding species. Length four inches 
anda half; extent six anda half. Bill half an inch. Tail an inch and 
six-tenths; tarse eight-tenths. Central toe and nail plus half an 
inch. Hind under half an inch. Above vernal-green, below bright 
yellow. Throat bright chesnut. Nape slaty. ars half golden, half 
black. Wing-coverts black with white tips. Bull dark slaty. Legs 
fleshy. Tail nearly even, and paled to the sides.” The habitat of both 
these (alleged) species would appear to be the region of the Terai, at 
the base of the 8. E. Himalaya. I cannot, however, help suspecting 
that the latter is merely the adult male of the former. 

Proparus chrysotis (chrysopterus ?), Wodgson, XIII, 938.* Fine 
specimens of this bird, from Darjeeling, are now before me, in much 
better order than that formerly sent by Mr. Hodgson. They have the 
upper-parts fine olive-green, which fades to ashy by exposure to the 


* The name chrysotis must have arisen from a slip of the pen on the part of Mr. 
H., probably for chrysopterus, or perhaps leucolis, as the former is inapplicable to the 
species. It had better stand as Pr. leucolis. 


1847. | New or Inttle Known Species of Birds. 449 


light ; crown nigrescent, and throat dark silvery-ash ; the ear-coverts 
whitish silvery-ash. The male has the whole under-parts, below the 
throat and fore-neck, bright yellow, the first five primaries edged with 
the same ; the secondaries and basal two-thirds of all but the middle pair 
of rectrices are margined with orange-yellow; the tertiaries internally 
with dull white, and most of the great alars have a small white spot at 
tip. In the females, the lower-parts are merely tinged with yellow, and 
that of the wings and tail is comparatively very faint. 

Minla cinerea, nobis, n. s. Allied in form and size to M. eastaniceps, 
XIII, 939. Colour olive-grey above, tinged with green ; beneath white, 
tinged on the flanks with ashy, and shewing some yellow along the mid- 
dle of the abdomen: a broad yellowish-white supercilium, and over this 
a black one ; the coronal feathers margined with black, and the cheeks 
mingled black and white; orbital feathers subdued white ; wings and 
tail without markings ; the tertiaries edged with grey, and the second- 
aries with very faint dull yellowish. Length four inches and a half, of 
wing two and a quarter, and tail an inch and three-quarters ; bill to 
gape nearly five-eighths ; and tarse three-quarters. of an inch. Probably 
a female bird. From Darjeeling. 

In XIV, 600, at the suggestion of Mr. Strickland, I regarded as 
identical the Hypsipetes gracilis, M’Clelland and Horsfield, with 
Sibia capistrata, (Vig.), v. nigriceps, Hodgson ; but referring since to 
Dr. M’Clelland’s drawing of Sibia gracilis, and more particularly also 
to the latin diagnosis (P. Z. S. 1839, p. 159), I find that they are 
decidedly distinct. The following description is taken from the draw- 
ing of S. gracilis. Above dark non-rufous brown, paler below, and the 
throat white ; rump and upper tail-coverts ashy ; tail also greyish, with 
a broad black subterminal band, and broad greyish-white tips; wings 
dusky-black, the great coverts partly, and the tertiaries wholly, greyish- 
white, the latter having a slight dusky subterminal border and white 
extreme edge. Iris whitish. Bill dusky-black; and legs dull white. 
Wing three inches and a half: tail about four inches. Inhabits Assam. 

Leioptila, nobis, n. g. This form serves to connect Sidia, Hodg., 
as exemplified by S. capistrata, with Yuhina, Wodg.; but cannot be 
placed satisfactorily with either. It also much approaches Ivops, Hodg., 
in general structure, but the legs and toes are much smaller. The bill, 
too, is more slender, less so than in Yuhina, rather more so than in 

3 N 


450 Notices and Descriptions of various [May;, 


Sibia ; but it incurves less than in Sibia, and has the tip of its upper 
mandible slightly bent over, and emarginated feebly ; the upper ridge 
being more obtusely angulated than in the others: nostrils somewhat 
large, the orifice reduced to a fissure by the overlapping membrane: 
rictal bristles fine and inconspicuous. Wings rather short, and round- 
ed; having the first primary but half the length of the third, and the 
fourth and fifth longest: the tertiaries broad, and almost truncate. Tail 
somewhat long, having its three medial pairs of feathers equal, the rest 
graduating. Legs too much destroyed in the only specimen examined, 
to permit of description. 

L. annectans, nobis. Length about seven inches and a quarter, of 
wing three and an eighth, and tail three and a half, its outermost feathers 
an inch less ; bill to gape three-quarters of an inch, and tarse seven- 
eighths, Colour of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, bright 
rufo-ferruginous (much as in the male Cutia nipalensis); the great 
range of wing-coverts broadly tipped, and the tertiaries edged externally 
towards their base, with the same: scapularies, flanks, and lower tail- 
coverts, weaker ferruginous, and a trace of the same at the setting on 
of the neck: throat and breast pure white; the head, neck, and ear- 
coverts, black; mingled with brownish upon the crown, and streaked 
on the nape with white : wings and tail black, the caudal feathers white- 
tipped, and successively more deeply so to the outermost ; the primaries 
and secondaries edged externally with ash-grey, and the tertiaries border- 
ed with white round their broad tips. Bill black, with the base of the 
lower mandible yellow; and the legs pale. From Darjeeling. 

Garrulax, Lesson. To the synopsis of this genus in XIV, 598 et 
seq., I have only further to add, that Mr. Jerdon has favored me with 
a copy of Buffon’s figure, in the Planches Coloriés, upon which was 
founded G. perspicillatus, (Gm.) ; and this confirms me in my opinion 
that the species is alike distinct from G. Belangeri and G. leucolophos, 
though nearly allied to both, and forming with them a particular subsec- 
tion. Of G. Belangeri, the Society has been recently favoured by Mr. 
Barbe with many specimens from the Tenasserim Province of Yé,* all 
exactly agreeing in their distinctions from G. Jeucolophos of the Hima- 
laya, Assam, Sylhet, and Arracan: and also with specimens of G. 
pectoralis from the same part, remarkable for the very slight develop- 


* Also with others from the vicinity of Amherst, forwarded by E. O' Ryley, Esq. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 451 


ment of the black pectoral band, which in one is indeed wanting altoge- 
ther, though on minute inspection a black dash may here and there be _ 
seen upon a few of the feathers that should constitute the band in ques- 
tion, and which band is particularly well developed in some Arracanese 
specimens. The G. MecClellandii, nobis, judging from Dr. McClelland’s 
figure of it, is probably a variety only,of G. moniliger. 

Pomatorhinus, Horsfield. A synopsis of this genus was attempted 
in XIII, 946; to which I should have added P. Isidorei, Lesson, from 
New Guinea, described in the Dict. Class. The form of the wing is, 
however, so different in the Australian species, that (as long ago sug- 
gested by Messrs. Jardine and Selby, in their ‘ Illustrations of Ornitho- 
logy,’ it is probable that they will have eventually to be separated. 
Two other additional species are described in XIV, 597; and I have 
now to add 

P. olivaceus, nobis, n. s.: probably (rather than P. schisticeps) the 
P. montanus apud McClelland and Horsfield, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 166. 
Allied to P. schisticeps, P. Horsfieldi, and P. montanus. Size of the 
two last, with bill of intermediate length. Colour of the same uniform 
dull olive-green above as in P. schisticeps, with a faint rufescent tinge 
on the nape ; head of the same olive-colour as the back : throat, breast, 
and middle of the belly, together with a long superciliary streak, pure 
white; beneath the latter, the lores and ear-coverts are black, and 
beyond the ear-coverts there is ferrnginous spot on the side of the neck, 
continued as a slight border to the white breast: flanks and lower tail- 
coverts olivaceous. Bull yellow, the upper mandible dusky above at 
base; and feet leaden-brown. Length under nine inches ; the wing and 
middle tail-feathers respectively three and seven-eighths ; bill to gape 
an inch and a quarter; and tarse the same. From the Tenasserim Pro- 
vince of Yé, whence sent by Mr. Barbe. Dr. McClelland’s figure of 
his P. montanus, from Assam, seems to agree with this ; but may prove 
upon examination to be distinct, in which case it might stand as P. 
assamensis, McClelland, MS. From bill to forehead the drawing mea- 
sures an inch, wing three inches and a half, and tail about three and 
three-quarters. 

P. melanurus, nobis, n. s. Resembles P. Horsfieldi, but seems 
always to have ashorter bill, and the colours are more brought out : the 
hue of the upper-parts is more rufescent, the tail much blacker, and the 

3 N 2 


452 Notices and Descriptions of various [ May, 


cap is suffused with blackish, mingled with rufescent, but contrasting 
with the rufescent hue of the rest of the upper-parts. The black of 
the tail affords the readiest distinction. Inhabits Ceylon. 

P. rubiginosus, nobis, XIV, 597. All the specimens of this bird | 
which I have hitherto seen, from Darjeeling, correspond with my des- 
cription of the supposed male; having the cap black, and some erect 
lengthened plumes above the lores of the same deep rufous as the 
breast: but the Arracan specimens, three in number, which I have now 
seen, alike correspond with my description of the supposed female ; 
having the crown of the same olivaceous hue as the rest of the upper_ 
parts, this being of a greener tinge than in the Darjeeling birds; the 
feathers above the lores short and white, like the rest of the supercilium ; 
and the rufous of the under-parts is much weaker and more fulvescent. 
Hence, I now suspect that they are two distinct species, and shall desig- 
nate that of Arracan P. Phayrei. 

Gampsorhynchus rufulus, nobis (XIII, 371, XIV, 596). Mr. Hodgson 
has sent a description of this curious species, from which may be cited 
—“ Irides straw : bill sordid brown ; legs sordid fleshy-grey. Expanse 
of wings eleven inches and a quarter.’ I have also seen several more 
specimens, nearly all of which hada greater or less intermixture of . 
whitish feathers (as described). 

Mixornis chloris, Hodgson, XI, 794, XIU, 380 (Motacilla rubiea. 
pilla (?), Tickell), This has since been described by Mr. Hodgson as 
M. ruficeps, H., P. Z. S. 1845, p. 23.* 

Stachyris ruficeps, nobis, n. s. Allied in form and size to St. pyr- 
rhops, Hodgson, XIII, 379 ; but having the crown light ferruginous, and 
the chin and middle of the throat white, with slight black central streaks 
tothe feathers: rest of the upper-parts plain olive, and of the lower 
whitish, with a fulvous tinge on the sides of the neck and breast. 
Length of wing two inches and an eighth, and of tail aninch. From 
Darjeeling. 

In XIII, 370, I remarked the near affinity of Timalia hyperythra, 
Franklin, for the Malacocerci ; an opinion fully borne out by subsequent 
observation of the habits of the species in its native jungles: but I find 


* And in Mr. Gray’s list of Mr. Hodgson’s specimens presented to the British Muse- 
um, it is identified with Timalia gularis, Horsfield; though I question upon sufficient 
grounds, however closely allied. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 453 


that 7. hyperythra of Jerdon’s list, inhabiting southern India and 
Ceylon, differs from true hyperythra, which I obtained in the Midna- 
pore jungles, in having the chin and throat white, and the ferruginous 
hue of the rest of the under-parts rather deeper. The length of recent 
specimens was five inches and a half, by six and a half in alar expanse ; 
closed wing two inches, to two and an eighth: iris brown; bill pale, 
darker above ; and legs carneous. This bird occurred in flocks, and 
its note considerably resembles that of Malacocercus caudatus, except in 
being proportionally weaker. Should it be considered separable, as a 
species, from its representative in southern India, the latter might stand 
as M. (?) albogularis, nobis. The difference is, indeed, somewhat 
like that between Geocrchla citrina and G. cyanotus. 

Of the more typical species of Malacocercus (vide XIII, 367 et seq., 
and XIV, 597), several additional specimens of M. striatus from Cey- 
lon are true to the characters which I pointed out as distinguishing this 
bird from the closely allied M. terricolor* of Bengal, &c.; though the 
approximation of some of them is extremely close: and with these, 
Dr. Templeton has favoured the Society with examples of a new species, 
which may be termed 

M. rufescens, nobis. This pertains to the same section of the genus 
as M. striatus, terricolor, malabaricus, and griseus ; but has the tail 
longer and more graduated ;—in this respect, and in its colouring, ap- 
proximating to the other or long-tailed section. Length above ten 
inches, of wing four, and tail five inches, its outermost feather an inch 
and three-quarters less; bill to gape an inch, and tarse an inch and 
three-eighths. Colour deep brown above, with no intermixture of grey 
except upon the crown, and bordering the primaries ; flanks, abdomen, 
and lower tail-coverts, much the same; but the throat and breast vina- 
ceous-brown. Bill and feet bright yellow. Inhabits Ceylon. 


* With regard to my identification of this bird with Turdus canorus, Lin. ( XIII, 368), 
on the authority of Edwards’s figure and description of his ‘ Brown Indian Thrush,’ Mr. 
Strickland writes me word :—‘“‘ Turdus canorus, L., is not founded on Edwards, pl. 184, 
(though Lirmzus erroneously quotes that plate in his synonymes). T’. canorus, L., is 
founded on T.. chinensis, Osbeck ; out of which Linnzus also inadvertently established 
his Corvus ( vel Lanius) faustus. The latter specific name should stand, being used by 
Linnzus in his Amenitates Acudemice, prior to using canorus in the Syst. Nat. 

(N.B. Osbeck’s name chinensis is out of the pale of the binomial nomenclature.) This 
bird has a white streak behind the eye, and is the Lanthocinclu canora of my Chinese list 
Ann. Mag. N. H. 1843, p. 221.” 


454 Notices and Descriptions of various | May, 


Some doubt still remains respecting the identification of Garrulus 
albifrons, Gray, with M. Malcolmi : but to the former must be referred 
the Pale-eared Trush of Latham; and his Gogaye Thrush is evidently 
a species nearly allied to M. Harlei and M. caudatas. Both the latter 
occur plentifully in Lower Bengal, above the tideway of the river ; fre- 
quenting hedges and small detached trees in the open cultivated coun- 
try, and never “mango topes” or groves, like M. ¢erricolor. It is 
remarkable that M. Harlei has the iris bright light yellow, while that 
of M. caudatus is dark hazel.* 

The Timalia hypoleuca, Frankhn, v. T. Horsfieldi, J. and S., is cited 
as Chrysomma hypoleucos, (Fr.) Hodgs., in J. 4. S. XIV, 602, and 
Mr. Hodgson has designated the group Chrysomma in P. Z. 8. 1845, 
p. 24. Tagree with him that it is justly separable. This bird is the 
Parus sinensis, Lath., which specific name should stand, provided the 
species prove to inhabit China. It is also the Gotah Finch, and Em- 
beriza calfat, var. A, of Latham. f 

Genus Prinia, Horsfield, and its immediate affines. This group was 
treated of in XIII, 375 e¢ seg., and some more recent discoveries in 
it by Mr. Jerdon are alluded to in XIV, 490. That gentleman has 
since obliged me with the loan of his specimens ; and it appears that a 
further dismemberment of the series is required, than the separation of 
the little group Cist¢icola. Without coining a new name, the species 
may be distributed under Prinia, Cisticola, and Drymoica. 

The typical Prinie have a rather longer, straighter, and more slender 
bill, which in all the Indian species appears to be constantly of a black 
colour ; and the hues of the plumage are mostly pure greyish and bright- 
ish olive-green above, with clear fulvous-white or yellow below. Alto- 
gether, they approximate more to the Orthotomi, or Tailor-birds ; so 
much so, that Mr. Swainson has suggested that Pr. familiaris of Java 
is “probably an aberrant species of Orthotomus ;’ and Col. Sykes 
remarks, of his Pr. socialis, that it constructs the same ingenious nest, 
and has the same habits, same note, and feeds in the same manner, as 

* Recently, I have observed M. caudatus in abundance, in low bush cover in the 
vicinity of Midnapore ; and M, Earlei, also, is common in some parts of thé same district, 
in general frequenting higher bush-jungle.—This genus, Malacocercus, seems to be 
wholly Indian, and finds its nearest allies in the African Crrateropodes. ‘The Burmese and 


Malayan countries seem to have no immediate representatives of it; and, in the latter 
more especially, species of Garrulaa seem to be almost wholly wanting. 


1847.] New or Little Known Species of Birds. 455 


Orthotomus longicauda.* Yn general, I think it will be observed that 
they frequent higher jungle, and scrubby open country less, than the 
Drymoice ; which would bear out their affinity to the Orthotomi : and, 
lastly, it may be remarked, that the first species below noticed was 
classed as an Orthotomus by, I believe, the Baron de la Fresnaye. 

1. Pr. flaviventris, (Delessert,) vide XIII, 376. This species is 
remarkable for the absence of subterminal variegation to its tail-feathers. 

2. Pr. olivaceus, (Raffles,) Lin. Tr. XIII, 313. Apparently closely 
allied to the preceding, but having a subterminal blackish band to its 
tail-feathers. 

3. Pr. familiaris, Horsfield, figured both in the ‘ Zoological Re- 
searches in Java,’ and by Mr. Swainson. Also evidently allied to the 
two preceding. 

4. Pr. socialis, Sykes: Foodkey Warbler of Latham. Southern India. 

5. Pr. Stewarti, nobis; Sylvia kalaphuthi, Buch. Ham., MS. : 
probably Flaxen Warbler, var. A, of Latham. I found this species upon 
three specimens procured by Dr. Stewart near Agra, which alike differ 
from three of Pr. soczalis before me, in their smaller size, considerably 
smaller bill, whiter throat, and much less distinct subterminal broad caudal 
band as seen above, the rest of the tail-feathers being also considerably 
more rufescent : in other respects the two species present a close resem- 
blance. Length of wing an inch and three-quarters; tail two and a 
quarter ; bill to gape nine-sixteenths ; tarse three-quarters of an inch: 
the corresponding measurements in Pr. socialis being two inches, two 
and a quarter, eleven-sixteenths, and seven-eighths or nearly so. In the 
latter species, the tips of the tail-feathers have the terminal quarter of 
an inch conspicuously black, with a slight greyish edge beyond; while 
in the present species the dark band is much less broad, and only appears 
above as if showing through the feathers. 


* This observation concerning the nest leads me to suggest that the ‘‘ unspotted 
verditer-blue eggs” fuund in some Tailor-birds’ nests, as noticed by Mr. Hodgson, in P. 
Z. S. 1845, p. 29, were those of Pr. Hodgsoni, nobis ; for the nearly allied Drymoice lay 
blue eggs, as remarked by Mr. Jerdon of Dr. inornata, and so do the Malacocerei, 
Sphenure, &e., to which they approximate. As for Mr. Hodgson’s two species of Orthoto- 
mus, I consider his O. patia to be decidedly the young of the other, previously named O. 
lingoo by Sykes. Mr. IH. forwarded the young as a separate species to the Society’s Mu- 


scum. 


456 Notices and Descriptions of various [ May, 


6. Pr. Hodgsoni, nobis, XI, 376: Pr. gracilis apud Jerdon, et 
nos passim. 

7. Pr. gracilis, Franklin.* A species which I consider to be this one, 
was observed abundantly in the low sal jungles to the northward 
of Midnapore ; and some time previously, Mr. Jerdon forwarded a young 
bird with the MS. name Pr. tarda, which, without having now by me 
for comparison, I suspect will prove to be the same. Length four inches 
and a half, by five and three-quarters in alar expanse ; wing an inch and 
seven-eighths ; tail two inches ; bill to gape five-eighths ; tarse thirteen- 
sixteenths of an inch. Some specimens are rather smaller. Bill black ; 
irides deep amber ; bare orbits dull yellow ; feet dull orpiment-yellow. 
Colour slightly rufescent olive above, greyer on the head and neck; the 
wing-feathers edged externally with rufous-brown: under-parts silky- 
white, tinged with yellowish-fulvous on the flanks, and faintly on the sides 
of the neck : tail brown, albescent-greyish underneath, with subterminal 
dark band and whitish tips, much more conspicuous on the under sur- 
face than above. The following is the description which I took of Mr. 
Jerdon’s specimen from 8. India :— 

Colour light greyish olive-green above, slightly fulvescent white 
below, with a tinge of yellow on the sides of the neck: wings pale 
dusky, margined with light rufescent-brown; and tail the same, with a 
very strongly marked subterminal blackish band and pale greyish tips, 
as seen beneath, but the former scarcely visible on its middle feathers 
above : bill pale, the ridge a little dusky towards its tip; and legs verv 
pale, probably flesh-coloured in the recent specimen. Length about five 
inches or less, of wing one and seven-eighths, and middle tail-feathers 
two inches, the outermost an inch and an eighth less; tarse thirteen- 
sixteenths.—This species is very common in the Midnapore jungles, 
m straggling flocks of a dozen or more individuals; and a number of 
them together sometimes utter a twittering kind of song: but from 
their small size, restlessness, and the nature of the cover they frequent, 
it requires some patience to obtain a number of specimens. 

8. Pr. rufescens, nobis, n. s. Closely allied to the last, from which 
it is distinguished by the much more rufous colouring of its entire — 


* Nee Pr. gracilis, Ruppell, which should be a Drymoica, if the distinction here pro- 
posed be adopted. 


1847. | New or Inttle Known Species of Birds. 457 


upper-parts, and of the flanks: the tail above, and wings externally, 
are uniform rufous or light ferruginous. Inhabits Arracan. 

To Cisticola we can only refer 

C. cursitans, (Franklin.) India generally, including Lower Bengal, 
though chiefly above the tideway of the river. A second species is com- 
mon in parts of the south of Europe, the C. sehenicola, Bonap.; and a thifd 
occurs in Australia, recently described (and since figured) by Mr. Gould 
as C. campestris, P. Z. S. 1835, p. 20.* These little birds frequent 
sedges and long grass in the open country, also growing corn and other 
low crops ; and the Indian species may be commonly observed to rise a 
little way into the air, as is the habit of so many birds that inhabit 
similar situations, repeating at quick intervals a single note—jih, jik. 
Like its European affine, it is also remarkable for the beautiful construc- 
tion of its nest, sewing together a number of growing stems and leaves 
of grass, with a delicate pappus which forms also the lining, and laying 
four or five translucent white eggs, with reddish-brown spots, more 
numerous and forming a ring at the large end, very like those of 
Orthotomus longicauda. It abounds in suitable districts throughout 
the country. 

Drymoica, Sw. The types of this division, as cited by Mr. Swainson, 
are—l, the European Cisticola scheenicola,—and 2, le Capocier of Le- 
vaillant, or Sy/via macroura, Lath., of South Africa, considered identi- 
cal with the species figured in Denon’s Egypt. Other African species 
have been figured and described by Ruppell and by Dr. A. Smith: 
but no restricted Prinia appears to have been yet met with on the 
African continent. To the same immediate group as Dr. macroura, 
(Lath.) Sw., must also be referred several Indian species, some 
of which are very closely allied together, and difficult to describe 
apart. The bill is shorter, less slender, wider and deeper at base, with 
more developed stiff rictal bristles, than in the true Printe; and, if 
black, is only of this colour during the breeding season, as in Sphenura 
and Megalurus. The plumage is commonly plain deep brown, darker 


* Add, also, several of Dr. A. Smith’s Drymoice of South Africa, as Levaillantii, 
terrestris, cherina, subruficapilla, apparently also the large natalensis, and perhaps chini- 
ana. His Dr. textrix, or the Pincpinc of Levaillant, constitutes Mr. Swainson’s fur- 
ther subdivision Hemipteryx, Gould also figures and describes a C. magna from 
Australia. 


a 0 


458 Notices and Descriptions of various [ May, 


(or sometimes rufous) on the crown, where the feathers have usually 
somewhat paler margins ; the lores, under-parts, and more or less deve- 
loped eye-streak, pale ; and the graduating tail-feathers have a subter- 
minal dusky bar and pale tip, in general distinctly traceable, but less 
strongly marked and contrasting than in the Prinie and Cisticole. 
They inhabit low scrubby bush-cover in the open country, rather than 
high bush-jungle, to which the Prinie chiefly resort ; or long grass, 
the favourite abode of the Cisticole : and the nest is of ordinary con- 
struction and open above, neither formed by sewing a few grass stems and 
leaves together, in the manner of the Cisticole, nor broad leaves, like 
the Orthotomi and (so far as known) the Prinie. At the head of the 
Indian species may be placed 

1. Dr. criniger ; Suya criniger, Hodgson, As. Res. XIX, 183. 
Nepal. | 

2. Dr. longicaudata ? Sylvia longicaudata (?), Tickell, 11, 576 : 
Prima macroura, Franklin (nec Sylvia macroura, Lath.), altered to 
Pr. Franklinii, nobis, in XII, 376. (Non vidi.) Hab. Indian pen- 
insula, probably to the northward chiefly. 

3. Dr. sylvatica, Jerdon. A specimen of what appears to me as the 
young of this bird, has been forwarded on loan by Mr. Jerdon with the 
specifie name neglecta.* The plumage has the unsubstantial texture 
characteristic of immaturity ; and the general colour is not so dark, the 
crown being of the same faintly rufescent brown as the rest of the upper- 
parts,} the rufescent edgings of the wimg-coverts and primaries are more 
developed, and the tail is much shorter ; its middle feathers measuring 
but two inches and a half, and the three or four outer tail-feathers having 
broader but ill-defined dull whitish tips, and no decided indication of the 
subterminal dusky band (which I also find to be the ease in certain unshed 
tail-feathers of a specimen of Dr. Jerdoni, while those that had been 
moulted resemble the corresponding feathers of Dr. sylvatica). Entire 
under-parts of the same wmiform clear fulvous-white. Length of wing 
two inches and a quarter ; of bill to gape five-eighths, and tarse seven- 


* It is described by Mr. Jerdon as Prinia neglecta, in the Madr. Journ. No. XXXI, 
130; being altogether different from Dr. Jerdoni, of which that gentleman forwarded a 
second specimen by the same opportunity. 

t In the young of Dr. Buchanuni, the rufous crown is much less marked than in the 
adult. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 459 


eighths, having apparently been fleshy-white. This young bird (for 
such it certainly is, whatever its species), was procured from the jungle 
skirting the base of the eastern ghauts of the peninsula. Dr. sylvatica 
inhabits the Neilgherries, but I believe is not confined to them.* 

The Society has received a species from Java almost exactly similar to 
Dr. sylvatica, but smaller, having the wing but two inches and an 
eighth, instead of from two and three-eighths to two and a half: the 
bill, however, is fully as long, or longer than in most specimens of Dr. 
sylvatica, and the tips of the tail-feathers have a much broader and 
more conspicuous dusky band, as seen from beneath, with a narrower 
whitish terminal margin. 

4, Dr. brevicaudata, nobis, n. s. Length five inches and a quarter, 
of wing two and an eighth, and tail but two inches, its outermost fea- 
thers half an inch shorter ; bill to gape five-eighths, and tarse three- 
quarters of an inch. Colour plain uniform greenish olive-brown above, 
inclining to tawny towards the tail; paler and albescent below, passing 
to olive on the flanks: the anterior third of the under surface of the 
wing nearly pure white. Bill dusky, and legs pale. From Darjeeling. 

5. Dr. Jerdoni, nobis: described as a new species of Prinia in XI, 
883, but regarded as a variety of Dr. inornata in XIII, 376. Inter- 
mediate to Dr. sylvatica and Dr. inornata (vera) of Southern India ; 
also nearly allied to the Javanese species, which it resembles in size, 
but differs in its subterminal dusky tail-band not being nearly so broad, 
and essentially resembling that of Dr. sylvatica. Except in being 
smaller, I can detect no available distinction of this species from Dr. 
sylvatica ; i. e. distinctions which I might predicate as constant: but 
two specimens before me correspond exactly in dimensions ; having the 
wing two inches and an eighth, middle tail-feathers two and a half, bill 
to gape five-eighths, and tarse three-quarters. Inhabits Southern 
India. | 

6. Dr. inornata, (Sykes.) This 1s smaller, again, but other- 
wise similar, except that the tail-feathers are more albescent under- 

* T recently obtained a single specimen, about 40 miles to the N. W. of.Midnapore. 
It was in an open bushy place, near tree-jungle ; where also were many of the Chrysom- 
ma hypoleucos. Its note was a long-continued and rapid repetition of the sound twit. 
Length six inches and a half, by seven inches in spread of wing ; closed wing two inches 


and a quarter; tail three and one-eighth, Legs carneous-brown ; irides deep amber, as 
usual throughout the group. 


Es) 


oo e 


460 Notices and Descriptions of various [May, 


neath, and the subterminal dusky band tends to contract into a medial 
spot on each tail-feather. Length of wing under two inches, of middle 
tail-feathers two and a quarter, bill to gape barely five-eighths, and 
tarse three-quarters of an inch. A specimen sent by Mr. Jerdon with 
the name sericea, I take to be the young of this; distinguished by the 
looser texture of its feathers, and by its general much paler colouring : 
also from Southern India. 

7. Dr. fusca, (Hodgson,) P. Z. 8. 1835, p. 29:.Prinia inornata - 
of Bengal, Nepal, &c., apud nos, passim. Hab. also Arracan. Plumage 
altogether more fulvescent than in the preceding species, and less firm 
in texture; with the tail-feathers much browner, and not so strongly 
marked at the tips: all the wing-feathers broadly edged with rufous- 
brown, and tail tinged with the same. Inhabits likewise the Midna- 
pore district. 

8. Dr. Buchanani, nobis; altered from rufifrons, Franklin, XIII, 
376: Prinia brunnifrons, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 19; 
probably Sylvia longicauda, var. A, of Latham. Nepal, Upper Bengal, 
Southern India. 

9. Dr. lepida, nobis, XIII, 376. During an excursion up the 
river, I obtained several specimens (and observed many more) of a 
strongly marked species, which appears to be this one, so far as I can 
identify it from comparison with the injured Scinde specimen. Length 
four inches and three-quarters to five and a quarter; the tail varying 
from two and one-eighth to two and five-eighths, with its outermost fea- 
thers from an inch to one anda quarter less; alar expanse five inches 
and a quarter to five and a half; closed wing an inch and_ three-quar- 
ters ; bill to gape half an inch, or a trifle more ; tarse five-eighths of an 
inch. Trides bright yellowish-brown : bill plumbeous, paler (and some- 
times carneous) below ; legs pale carneous, with a faint tinge of yellow. 
General colour light olive-grey above, each feather having a mesial 
dusky streak, broader on those of the crown and back: wings. light 
dusky-brown, the feathers margined with olive-grey : and tail through- 
out distinctly banded above, with narrow transverse duskyish lines ; 
below pale, with whitish tips, and a subterminal dusky band to each 
feather : the under-parts throughout are greyish-white, with lores and a 
slight supercilium of the same. This bird inhabits low scrub, inter- 
mixed with tufts of coarse sedgy grass, growing in sandy places by the 


1847. ] New or Inttle Known Species of Birds. . 461 


river-side ; and it frequently flies out to feed among the thin herbage 
growing along the margin of the sand-dunes.* 

Malacopteron group. I know of no birds more difficult to arrange 
than the chiefly Malayan series nearly allied to true Timalia, to certain 
species of which Mr. Eyton first gave the name Ma/lacopteron. Twelve 
or more species of this series are now before me. 

First, following true Timalia and Macronous, we have Turdinus, 
nobis, XIII, 382, founded on M. macrodactylus of Strickland. Lord 
Arthur Hay has recently added, with a mark of doubt, a species which 
his lordship terms Turdinus ? superciliaris (Madr. Journ. No. XXXI, 
p- 163); but suggests a divisional name, Turdirostris, and defines its 
characters, in case should it be deemed separable, which I now consider it 
to be. Indeed, I am not satisfied that its affinities are not rather with 
Copsychus and Kittacincla (p. 139, ante). 

Next, might come M. magnum of Eyton, with which I would only 
place an allied and larger species of the series before me, which may be 
described as 

Malacopteron majus, nobis. Length seven inches and a half, or 
more; of wing three and a half; and tail three inches: bill to gape an 
inch ; and tarse thirteen-sixteenths of an inch. Colour resembling that 
of M. magnum, except that the upper tail-coverts are brighter rufous, 
and that the rufous feathers of the forehead and vertex are not tipped 
with black. Found at Malacca. What appears to be a female of this 
bird has been since received from Penang. Colour the same, except 
that the head is plain brown, like the back, and the tail is more rufous 
underneath : there is a dark line from the base of the lower mandible, 
bordering the white throat ; and the wing does not exceed three inches. 

M. magnum, Kyton, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 103. Length approaching 
to six inches ; of wing two inches and seven-eighths ; and tail two and 
three-quarters ; bill to gape above three-quarters of an inch ; and tarse 
three-quarters. Colour olive-brown above, greyish towards the neck, 
more rufous over the rump, and the tail brownish-ferruginous ; forehead 
and vertex bright rufous, the feathers narrow-spatulate, of rigid texture, 
and tipped with black ; occiput black ; the small feathers around the 


* Lord A. Hay informs me of an additional undescribed species, very common in the 
Upper Provinces, which he calls Dr. terrestris ( Non vidi). This specific name has, 
however, been previously applied to a South African Cisticola, 


462 Notices and Descriptions of various [| May, 


eye white-centred : lower-parts white, slightly tinged with brown, more 
especially on the sides of the breast. Bill and feet pale, the former 
darker above. Also from Malacca. 


These two species are distinguished by a much compressed bill, of 
moderate length, and strongly and abruptly hooked at tip ; and by the 
peculiar rigid feathers of the forehead and vertex; M. majus being 
moreover stronger and more robustly made, as well as longer, than M. 
magnum, which latter bird has been rather unlucky in its appellation. | 


Trichastoma, nobis, XI, 795. This has been referred to Mala- 
copteron, but may now be restored, and I think Malacocincla, nobis, 
XIV, 600, might be included in it. The bill is more elongated, less 
compressed, and less abruptly curved at tip, than in the preceding 
section ; widening considerably at base, and pretty regularly in the 
first species, while in the second it is narrower and more slender, and 
in the third (which must be regarded as aberrant) it is deep and 
much compressed. The species are 77. ferruginosum, nobis, XIII, 383, 
—Tr. rostratum, nobis, XI, 795,—and Tr. Abbotti, nobis, XIV, 600. 
The two former are from Malacca, and the third was described from 
Arracan, whence the Society has received several specimens altogether 
similar ; but it has now also one from Malacca, which differs in being 
of a much more olivaceous and less rufous tinge above, with also less 
rufous below, and that of the upper tail-coverts is not so deep.* 


Next follows Alcippe, nobis, XIII, 384: of which the following 
species are before me.—1, 4. atriceps (Brachyptery«x atriceps, Jerdon) ; 
—2, Ad. affinis, nobis, XIII, 384 ;—3, A. cinerea, (Kyton), ibid ;—4, 
A. poiocephala (Timalia poiocephala, Jerdon) ;—5, A. sepiarta (Hors- 
field) ;—6, A. nipalensis, (Siva nipalensis, Hodgson), of which 4. Phay- 
rei, nobis, XIV, 601, seems to be merely an individual variety. Nos. 
3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively from Malacca, 8. India, Java, and Nepal and 
Arracan, are very nearly allied; especially the two last, which present 
the same dark lines proceeding from over the eye down the nape. 


Very close to the above, and scarcely separable from them, ranges 
my Setaria albogularis, XIII, 385 ; and if Brachypterya nigrocapitata 


* Brachypteryx bicolor of Lesson, vide XIII, 385, is not improbably either Tr, ferru- 


ginosum or Tr. rostratum, 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 463 


of Eyton truly belong to the present series, another subdivision will be 
required for its reception. 

I have at length brought my remarks on the Jnsessores to a close for 
the present ; and it is not likely that I shall again have such an accu- 
mulation of them to deal with. In conclusion, I may once more refer 
to Mr. Hodgson’s late paper, in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society,’ for April 8th, 1845, to identify a few more synonymes than 
have been already indicated in the present article-—Mixornis ruficeps 
==M. chloris,* J. A. S. XI, 794, and note to XIII, 380; Erpornis 
xanthochlora==E. xantholeuca, Hodgson, XIII, 380 ; Horeites schistila- 
tus, Horornis ? fuligiventer, and H ? fulviventris,—non vidi ; Chelido- 
rhynx chrysoschistos==Riipidura hypoxanthus, (nobis,) XII, 936. The 
reduction of synonymes is oftentimes a more acceptable service to Zoolo- 
gy, than the establishment (or especially the semi-establishment) of 
species previously undescribed; and the time and labour expended in 
the task of reducing synonymes, can only be appreciated by those who 
have personally engaged in it. 

Postscript.—The Strix indranee of Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, 
p- 82, is aspecies which has not heretofore been identified ; but I think 
there can be little doubt that it refers to the young of Bulaca newaren- 
sis, Hodgson, ds. Res. X1X, 168, and J. 4. 8. VI, 372, v. B. montico- 
la, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. No. XXX, 167 ; there being evidently a mistake 
in the dimensions assigned—“ longitudo corporis 21 unc., caudee 9,” —21 
being put for 11. Thus Mr. Jerdon gives—* Length of male 20 in., of 
female 22in. Of the latter the wing is 14, tail 9; and in a fine 
specimen from Goomsoor, which looks in imperfectly mature plumage, 
the length of wing and tail are respectively as here given; but its total 
length would scarcely have exceeded 19 in. Mr. Hodgson states that 
the sexes of his B. newarensis “are alike both as to size and colours,” 
and merely gives the dimensions as “ 20 to 21 inches, by 48 to 50 
between the wings :”’ but rather the larger of two fine specimens before 
me, from the N. W. Himalaya, has the wing 17 inches long, and the 
tail 11 inches; and its total length, when recent, must have been fully 
2 ft. All, however, are evidently of the same species, which must now 
accordingly rank as Bulaca indranee, (Sykes.) Mr. G. R. Gray has 
figured this bird with yellow irides, instead of their being dark brown : 


* Probably Motaci/la rubicapilla, Tickell, as I formerly suggested. 


464 Notices and Descriptions of various | May, 


such a feature would detract from its undoubted near affinity for 
Syrnium, to which genus Mr. Gray even refers it.* 

The other Indian species of Bulaca, which is currently (but by no 
means satisfactorily) referred to Striw sinensis, Lath., is beautifully con- 
nected in the same group with B. indranee by the intervention of the 
Malayan B. seloputo, (Horsf.), v. pagodarum, (Tem.) 

With regard to Syrnium nivicolum, XIV, 185, XV, 9, I find that it 
has a fulvous phase and a non-fulvous phase of plumage, correspond- 
ing to what obtain in 8S. aluco; but the dark markings are always much 
deeper-coloured in the European species, and mottle the plumage more 
uniformly and more minutely ; the black being much more predominant 
on the upper-parts, and without producing any streaky appear ance. The 
ground-hue of the lower-parts is quite white in some specimens, deep 
fulvous in others, but in all is mottled similarly with dull black. 

Genus Bucco, Lin. There are several allied species of small Barbets 
which require discrimination. 

1. B. indicus, Lath. One of the commonest birds of India generally, 
but I have not yet seen it from Ceylon, where it is replaced by one of 
its affines ; on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, I have seen it 
from Arracan, the Tenasserim provinces, and Malayan peninsula 
(where it seems rare) ; so that it may also be the B. philippensis of 
Raffles’s list of Sumatran birds, which, he remarks, ‘‘ does not appear 
to be different from the B. indicus.” | 

2. B. philippensis, Lin. : B. rubricollis (?), Cuv. This has been gene- 
rally confounded with the preceding species ; but (from the description) 
it should differ in wanting the black on the crown and sides of the 
neck, Dr. Horsfield includes it in his catalogue of the birds of Java. 

3. B. rubricapillus, Gmelin ; founded on the “ Red-crowned Barbet’’ 
of Brown’s ‘ Illustrations.” On comparing four specimens of a small 
Barbet from Ceylon with Brown’s most wretched figure, I have no 
doubt that they are of the species meant to be represented ; in which 
ease Brown must have got up his coloured drawing from a much in- 
jured skin. This Ceylon bird differs from B. indicus in having its throat, 
and above and below the eye, orange-yellow, mstead of sulphur-yellow ; 

* In his Catalogue of Mr. Hodgson’s specimens presented to the British Museum, 


Lam glad to see that Mr. Gray also refers B, newarensis, Hodgson, to Strix indranee of 


Sykes. 


1847. | New or Little Known Species of Birds. 465 


in the much inferior development of the crimson gorget, which is little 
more than indicated ; in the black of the moustaches and ear-coverts 
being replaced by dull verditer, that of the crown being also consider- 
ably less developed ; and in the abdominal region and lower tail-coverts 
being uniform streakless pale green, more or less faintly tinged with 
verditer: the feathers of the upper-parts, also, are margined with dull 
verditer, instead of yellowish ; and the nasal bristles are yellow at their 
extreme base. 7 

4. B. malabaricus, nobis. In XV, 13, I referred a smajl Barbet, 
from Malabar, sent on loan by Mr. Jerdon, to B. barbiculus, Cuv., as 
it agreed with the description of that Molucca species in the Dict. 
Class. ; but in Griffith’s brief notice of B. dardiculus (« An. Kingd.’ VII, 
469), ‘‘a yellow post-ocular spot” is mentioned, which, conjointly with 
the difference of habitat, induces me now to consider the Malabar 
species as distinct. From my description of the latter (/oc. cit.), it 
would appear to differ only from B. rubricapillus of Ceylon, in having 
the throat and around the eyes crimson, instead of orange-yellow; the 
crimson of the throat comprehending the slight crimson gorget of B. 
rubricapillus, and being there bordered with yellow, alike in both 
species. 

5. B. barbiculus, Cuv. Inhabits the Moluccas. 

6. B. cyanotis, nobis. In XV, 13, I remarked that—‘ In Arracan, 
there is further the B. australis, Horsf. (v. gularis,'Tem.) ; but the 
erimson of the cheeks, sincipita, and moustaches, seems invariably to 
be much less brilliant than in Malacca specimens.’ The close simi- 
litude of some of the preceding races has induced me to look more 
particularly to the differences of the two referred to in the above pas- 
sage ; and I have found a good distmguishing character in the Arracan 
bird haying constantly the ear-coverts of the same verditer-blue as 
the throat, while the Malacca bird has invariably black ear-coverts 
slightly tipped with verditer : but the crimson spots are so much weaker 
in the present species that the two may always be distinguished at a 
glance. 

7. B. trimaculatus (?), Gray, mentioned in Eyton’s list of Malacea 
birds, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 105: B. australis of Raffles’s list of Sumatrau 
birds, and hence apud nos, XV, 14; but not of Dr. Horsfield’s Javanese 
list, This is distinguished from B. australis by having no yellow about 


xi 
ys 


466 Notices and Descriptions of various [| May, 


it; and I cannot doubt that it is Mr. Gray’s B. trimaeulaius, because 
the name is a very good one, and the habitat is correct ; besides that 
I doubt the existence in the Malayan peninsula cf more than the fol- 
lowing species—B. chrysopogon, versicolor, armillaris, guadricolor, indi- 
cus, and the present ¢rimaculatus (2), heretofore confounded by me with 
B. australis, Colour deep green above, yellowish-green below: tail 
verditer beneath, and a tinge of the same above, and also at the bend 
and edge of the wing: throat bright light verditer; the sides of the 
forehead and posterior half of the crown, verditer blue-grey ; anterior 
half of the crown, ear-coverts, feathers at base of lower mandible, and 
slight gorget (more or less defined), black: three large crimson spots 
on the sides of the face, one behind the eye and above the ear-coverts, 
a second below the lores and in front of the ear-coverts, and a third 
below the ear-coverts. Bill and legs black : the vibrissee extremely long. 
What appear to be the females are duller in their colours, with generally 
some appearance of crimson below the black gorget. The young are 
wholly green, paler beneath, with the base of the lower mandible white 
m dry specimens. 

8. JB. australis, Horsfield (nee Raffles): B. gularis, Temminck. 
Inhabits Jaya. ; 

9. B. flavifrons, Cuv. From Ceylon. (Non vidi.) This would 
seem to be considerably allied to the last. All these species appear to 
resemble each other in size.* 

Picus major, P. himalayanus, and P. darjellensist (vide XIV, 196). 
In these three nearly allied Woodpeckers, the bill is shortest and most 
robust in P. major, longer and more slender in P. darjellensis, and in 
P. himalayanus intermediate. The adult male of the first has a narrow 
occipital band of bright crimson; that of P. darjeilensis has a scarlet 
occipital band more than twice as broad asin P. mayor ; and that otP; 


* An error seems to have erept into my description of B. guadricolor, Eyton, XV, 
14, to judge from three specimens since received by the Society. Instead of—“ beneath 
the eye, and middle of fore-neck, also crimson,” read deep blue. 

+ In Mr. Gray’s list of Mr. Hodgson’s specimens presented to the British Museum, 
P. darjellensis bears the hybrid name P. majoroides, Hodgson, Gray, Zool. Misc, and 
P. moluccensis apud Hodgson (which is P. pygmeus, nee P. nanus, of Vigors), is 
referred to P. zizuki, Tem. ; but does not the latter refer to P. moluccensis verus? Gecinus 
chloropus, ( Vieillot,) apud nos, is also referrred by Mr, Gray to P. xranthoderus, Malh., 
1845 ; but I retain my opinion that it is the ehloropus. 


1847.) New or Inttle Known Species of Birds. 467 


himalayanus has the whole coronal and occipital feathers crimson-tipped. 
The well defined whitish frontal band of P. maov is narrower in P. 
darjellensis, and ill-defined and mingled with reddish in P. himalayanus. 
P. darjeliensis is further distinguished from the two others by having 
broad black central stripes to the feathers of the abdomen, flanks, and 
sides of the breast; and by the black moustachial stripe not being 
continued round the ear-coverts, but the fulvescent hue of the latter 
is continuous with a broad dull golden-fulvous band on the sides of the 
neck ; the lower tail-coverts of P. darjellensis are also a weak scarlet, 
and not crimson. Both the Himalayan species have the white bars on 
the primaries much narrower than in P. major ; and in P. darjellensis, 
the white wing-patch is much smaller than in the two others. Lastly, 
P. himalayanus has the black markings on the sides of the neck less 
developed and less strongly defined than in P. major, descending much 
less upon the breast, where a ferruginous stain is always perceptible ; 
and the upper third of the ear-coverts are black, instead of their being 
wholly whitish, as in P. major. | 

P. canicapillus, nobis, XIV, 197, ranges southward to the Tenasserim 
provinees, but in the Malayan peninsula is replaced by P. moluccensis 
(verus), v. Tripsurus auritus, EKyton,—distinct from P. Hardwick, 
Jerdon, of India. 

Lune torquilla, Lin. A British specimen of this bird, lately received 
by the Society (in a collection sent by the “Cornish Institution’’), is 
conspicuously different from all the numerous Indian specimens which 
I have seen, in the whiteness of its abdominal region ; contrasting with 
the fulvesceut hue of its under tail-coverts, and also breast: the abdo- 
minal markings are also much less developed ; and the grey bordering 
the medial dorsal streak is more albescent.* In Indian Wrynecks, the 
whole colouring is somewhat more uniform ; and the abdominal region 
is either quite concolorous with the lower tail-coverts, or very slightly 
paler (in hardly an observable degree) ; the markings of the under- 
parts throughout being much more developed. The note of the Indian 
bird is quite similar to that of the British Wryneck; of which it can 
searcely be considered more than a variety: but VY. pectoralis, Vigors, 
of South Africa, merely differs in having a large rufous mark on the 
throat and breast. I have observed these birds in tolerable abundance 


* The descriptions of the European bird mention the whiteness of its abdominal region. 


"fm 


aap 2 


468 Notices and Descriptions of various {May, 


upon some of the partially cultivated alluvial islands up the river ; and 
recently shot one, near Midnapore, in the act of running up the perpen- 
dicular bole of a tree, in the manner of a Woodpecker. It is very 
seldom that the Wryneck is seen to climb; and that it ever does so 
has, I think, been denied: but in England I once winged one of these 
birds, and placing it on the trunk of a tree, it immediately ascended 
with such celerity that I nearly lost it, pressing its soft tail against the 
bark, as the stiff tail of a Woodpecker or Tree-creeper is applied.* 

Hudynamys orientalis, (Lin). ‘Two males received from Ceylon seem 
to have fed on some fruit that has stained and affected the healthy 
condition of their beaks, which are of a blackish colour, with rugous 
exterior, instead of bemg smooth and of a pale greenish hue, as usual. 
This bird seems perfectly identical im India, China, and the Malay 
countries ; but the Australian Coél (Eu. australis, Sw.), which was con- . 
founded with it by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield, is constantly larger ; 
the wing, in three males now before me, measuring 8} in. instead of 73 
in. ; and the tail 83 in. instead of 7} in.: one of these specimens has 
two unmoulted secondaries in one wing, of its first plumage, which are 
barred rufous and black, but very unlike the corresponding feathers of 
a female or young male of the Asiatic species. 

Rhinortha chlorophea, (Raffles.) Upon a former occasion (XIV, 
199), I asserted the specifical identity of the previously supposed two 
species of Rhinortha ;. but I find that the two phases of plumage 
observable in this bird seem to be characteristic of the adult male and 
female, rather than of the adult and young. Thus, the grey-headed 
bird with rufous tail—Cuculus chloropheus, Raffles, v. Phenicophaus 
caniceps, Vigors, and Anadenus rufus, Swainson,—appears to be the 
male; and the rufous-headed bird with barred black tail—Rh. lucida, 
Vigors, v. An. rufescens, Swainson, and Phenicophaus viridirostris, 
Eyton—to be the adult female: the former being described, and the 
latter figured, as Bubutus Isidorei by M. Lesson, in the Zoology of M. 
Belanger’s voyage. I have obtained a young specimen, with its wing 
and tail-feathers not fully grown: and this resembles the (presumed) 
adult female, except that its upper tail-coverts are dusky-rufous ; the 


* Since the above was written, Lieut, Blagrave has sent two specimens of Wrynecks 
from the Upper Provinces ; and these approximate the European bird, more than any 
other Indian Wrynecks that I have yet seen, 


1847.] New or Little Known Species of Birds. 469 


outermost and penultimate tail-feathers have no white at their tips, and 
the ante-penultimate very little ; there being also a strong tinge of rufous 
towards the subterminal black tail-band of the four middle tail-feathers, 
which, with other indications, tends to show that this specimen was a 
young male: its throat had been grey, with very flimsy feathers ; 
but a line of firmer rufous feathers were being developed along the 
-middle of the throat. Another young specimen was moulting, and had 
nearly acquired the mature livery of the presumed male; but several 
rufous feathers appear intermingled with the grey on its crown and 
neck ; and asingle penultimate tail-feather is retained, dark and without 
subterminal black band and white tip, which shows that the male plu- 
mage is obtained on the shedding of the first or nestling garb, and 
consequently that the intermediate (or presumed feminine) plumage is 
not assumed by the other sex. 

Corvus splendens, Vieillot, black variety ? Such appears to be a 
single specimen of a Crow, received from Ceylon. 

Genus Crypsirina, Vieillot, treated of im XII, 932, and XV, 30. It 
seems that Dendrocitta, Gould, is the name that must stand for the 
group exemplified by Corvus rufus, Scop., Lath., v. Coracias vagabunda, 
Lath.; while Crypsirina, Vieillot (v. Phrenothrix, Horsf.), must be 
reserved for the Corvus varians, Lath., v. Phrenothrix temia, Horsfield, 
which is a very distinct type from the other.* Fine specimens of the 
latter beautiful bird have lately been presented to the Society, by the 
Rey. J. Barbe from Maulmain, and by E. O’ Ryley, Esq. from Amherst ; 
thus confirming Helfer’s statement of its occurrence in the Tenasserim 
provinces, while on the Malayan peninsula it does not appear to have 
been yet observed. This species is very remarkable (among birds of 
the great passerine type of structure) for having but ten tail-feathers, 
like the Drongost ; and it is curious that, at first sight, the tail even 
resembles that of a Drongo, in its expansion and exterior curl upward 
at tip: but there is this essential difference, that the tail of Cr. varians, 
instead of being forked, is, in the opposite way, extremely graduated 


* Mr. G. R. Gray has rightly separated them, in his Catalogue of the Genera of 
Birds. 

+ Except Cr. varians and the Drongos, the only truly passerine birds I know of that 
have fewer than twelve tail-feathers, are a few with rudimentary tails, as instanced by 
Mr, Hodgson’s Pnoépyga, vide ps 137, ante. 


~ 


470 Notices and Descriptions of vartous [May, 


(much more so than is represented in Horsfield’s figure, in the ‘ Zoolo- 
gical Researches in Java’) ; and the expansion and curvature is accord- 
ingly exhibited by the two middle feathers, instead of the outermost 
as in the Drongos. 

Sturnia dominicana, XIII, 363. The species described under this 
head stands now as S¢. Blythu, (Jerdon.) Pastor dominicanus, 
auct.,”? writes Mr. Strickland, “ is synonymous with Turdus sturninus, 
Pallas, also 7. dauricus, Pallas, and Pastor malayensis, Eyton ;” de- 
scribed in XV, 35. ‘ Sé. elegans (Lesson),”” XV, 364, adds Mr. Strick- 
land, ‘‘is certainly Oriolus sinensis, Gmelin, founded on Pl. Enl. 617 :” 
it would therefore now stand as Sé. sinensis: and I may add that St. 
pagodarum, (Gmelin, 1788,) has for a synonyme the Zurdus melano- 
cephalus, (Bahl, 1792,) as noticed in XV, 6. 

Genus Ploceus, X1iI, 945. The males of the three Indian species, 
after the breeding season, assume the colouring of their females by a 
change of plumage ; and resume their bright colours by a partial change 
of plumage at the commencement of the hot season, or during March. 
The little Amaduvat (Hstrelda amandava) also moults twice in the 
year, and in like manner assumes the female livery after the breeding 
season. ‘This is well known of the Whidahs (genus dua.) 

Passer indicus, Jardine and Selby, XIII, 946. As compared with 
the common European Sparrow (many specimens of each), the Indian 
common Sparrow has, perhaps, on the average, rather a shorter wing ; 
the rufous predominates more on its upper-parts, and is brighter; the 
lower-parts are much whiter; and the ear-coverts are of an uniform 
subdued white. The females and young, also, are altogether consider- 
ably paler, both above and below: but the markings of both sexes are 
identical in the two races. It may be noticed that a tendency to exhibit 
the same differences is distinctly observable in P. montanus of the 
respective regions, which, of course, is in favour of the opinion that they 
truly are climatal varieties of the same. In habits, notes, and colouring 
of the eggs, there is no difference whatever between the European and 
Indian common Sparrows. 

Ligurinus xanthogramma, (G. R. Gray.) In the ‘Zoology of the 
Voyage of H. M. S. Beagle,’ Mr. G. R. Gray has figured and described 
two species of Greenfinch (Liyurinus, Brisson), by the names Chloro- 


spica melanodera and Chl. xanthogramma; the former from Hast 


1847. New or Little Known Species of Birds. 471 
/ 


Falkland Island and Patagonia ; the latter from East Falkland Island 
and Tierra del Fuego. In XIII, 956, I alluded to the latter as pre- 
senting “a close approach, on the part of the Greenfinches, to the Gold- 
finches (Carduelis), the Siskins (Chrysomitris), aud also to the Linnets 
(Linota) ; the form of its beak scareely differing from that of the 
Himalayan Siskin (Chr. spinoides) :” and in XIV, 554, I again alluded 
to this bird, remarking that the Z. sinicus “ agrees in size, and in 
the Goldfinch-like marking of its wings, with Z. eanthogramma of the 
Andes.” I was led into a mistake, however, in the identification of 
this Chilian species (as I was informed) with LZ, wanthogramma ; and 
have not yet been able to identify the bird in question, probably for 
want of the necessary works of reference. Its affinities are as I have 
_ stated, and itis very nearly allied to the Chinese Greenfinch (L. sinicus) ; 
but I have not now by me a specimen of the latter, with which to 
compare it.* Length 54 in.; of wing 3 to 3} in. and tail 1g in. Colour 
hair-brown above, the interscapularies margined paler, and the crown 
and nape with greenish-brown; rump brownish-yellow, passing to 
siskin-yellow towards the tail-coverts, which latter are pale greyish ; 
wings having the primaries and base of the secondaries marked with 
bright yellow, as in the Goldfinches, contrasting with the black winglet, 
and terminal half of the primaries which are tipped with whitish ; 
secondaries edged and the tertiaries tipped with whitish-grey, the rest 
of the outer web of the tertiaries brown; under-parts paler brown, 
tinged with yellow, more especially on the throat, abdomen, and also 
on the forehead ; towards the vent white; and the lower tail-coverts 
pure canary-yellow : tail dusky, with the basal half of all but its middle 
feathers bright yellow, and slightly edged with greyish-brown : bill pale, 
darker above; and the legs pale. 

In the same collection with the preceding were two examples of a 
species of Serinus (?), from Peru. Length about five inches, of wing 
two and five-cighths, and tail two inches. Upper-parts streaky, the 
feathers centred darker, with hair-brown margins; rump dull siskin- 
yellow, and a faint tinge of the same on the crown and neck, and upon 


* Can it be the female of L. sinicus? The collection in which two’ specimens of it 
occurred did contain some Chinese specimens, together with many from Chili and Peru ; 
but those from each locality were kept separately, with care, and I was assured that 
the birds in question were from Chili. 


472 Notices and Descriptions of various | May, 


the shoulder of the wing: lores, throat, and under-parts generally, 
bright canary-yellow, tinged with a light ruddy colour on the breast and 
flanks : margins of primaries obscure dull yellowish. Bill small and 
short. This bird can scarcely be the Chrysomitris compestris of Gould, 
which mhabits the same region ? 


Nectarinia Horsfieldi, nobis, XII, 975. I have lately seen a second | 
specimen of this species, from Mussoorie ; so that it is probably pecu- 
har to the N. W. Himalaya. 


Tora— ? In Ann. Mag. N. H. 1844, p. 42, Mr. Strickland remarks 
that—“ Dr. Horsfield has lately obtamed anew Jora equal in size to 
the small Oviolus xanthonotus ;’ which species of Tora I alluded to in 
XIV, 602. Such a bird the Society has now received from Arracan, 
where it was obtained by Capt. Phayre. The specimen before me was 
probably a female, measuring 6 in. in length, the wing 23 in., and tail 
24in.; bill to gape lin.; and tarse ?im. Colour plain green above, 
yellow below, brightest on the throat and breast; no white markings 
on the wings, except a slight white edge to the primaries. If new, J. 
tnnotata, nobis. In XV, 44, I suggested that this genus might “ per- 
haps come within the extreme confines of the Meliphagide ;’ and 
subsequent observation of the habits of Phyllornis has led me (p. 118, 
ante), to approximate Jora to that genus, with which I think it should 
form a particular subfamily of Meliphayide (peculiar to Southern Asia 
and its islands) ; and Oriolinea—to which Mr. Strickland regards Jora as 
subordinate—I regard as another subfamily of the same major group. 


Pycnonotus nigropileus, nobis, n. s. In XV, 286, I had occasion 
to offer some remarks on the Bulbouls immediately allied to P. yoco- 
sus ; and now we have an analogous little group formed by the present 
species, with P. bengalensis and P. hemorrhous. The bird now describ- 
ed inhabits the Tenasserim provinces, and merely differs from P. 
hemorrhous in having no black on the throat and breast, which are 
brown with greyish margins to the feathers, like the back; and the 
whole nape and back are much paler than in P. hemorrhous,—the cap 
alone being black. 


Rubigula aberrans (?), nobis, XV, 287: R&R. gularis, foem. (1) A 
second specimen received from Ceylon entirely resembles that previ- 
ously deseribed., 


1347.] New or Little Known Species of Birds. | 472 


Tchitrea affinis, XV, 292. Specimens of Shah Bulbouls front Dar- 
jeeling are clearly of this species, as shown by the form of the crest, 
and the much narrower and less lengthened middle tail-feathers than in 
Tch. paradisi ; but the black edgings of the tail-feathers are scarcely 
more developed than in the latter, and it is remarkable that in Ma- 
lacea specimens these edgings are more developed than in those from 
Arracan and the Tenasserim provinces. 

Lanius lahtora, XV, 300. To the synonymes of this species should 
have been added LZ. burra, Gray, of Hardwicke’s Ilustrations, founded 
on a wretched native drawing, which was evidently intended to represent 
the ordinary grey Shrike of India. 

Tephrodornis afinis, nobis, n. s. Merely differs from T. pondice- 
rianus (XV, 305), in being greyer, and in wanting the conspicuous 
whitish supercilium. It is common in Ceylon. 

Niltava McGregorie, (Burton). The Society has at length received 
this beautiful little species from Darjeeling : and I have no hesitation in 
assigning to it, as synonymes, not only N. fuligiventer, Hodgson, but 
(as the female) Leiothrix signata, McClelland and Horsfield, vel Niltava 
auricularis, Hodgson, placed as a Siphia in p. 127, ante. The bird 
described by Mr. Hodgson as the female, in the ‘India Review,’ I, 
650, is clearly of another species, being probably his Dimorpha mont- 
liger (p. 127, ante). With the colouring and general structure of its 
congeners, this bird approaches Muscicapula in its small size, and form 
of bill; and it much resembles Niltava grandis in its colouring, but has 
merely the front (instead of the whole cap) ultramarine-blue, and 
scarcely a trace of this on the shoulder of the wing,—also the anterior 
half of the imner side of the wing white, instead of black,—and the 
abdomen dusky-ash passing into white towards the vent. Its range may 
now be traced from Simla to Darjeeling, and thence to Assam. The 
bill of this bird differs greatly from that of N. sundara, but that of WV. 
grandis is intermediate. 

Muscicapula sapphira, nobis, XII, 939; figured in Jerdon’s ‘ Illus- 
trations of Indian Ornithology.’ In the female of this species, the wings, 
tail, and rump, are of the same beautiful deep blue as in the male ; but 
the head, neck, and interscapularies, are plain brown ; throat and fore- 
neck ferruginous, rather paler and much broader than in the male ; and 
the belly and lower tail-coverts are of the same bluish-white as in the 

3 Q 


a, %;, 


474 Notices and Descriptions of various [May, 


other sex ; axillaries and froe-part of the inner surface of the wing, also 
pure white. From Darjeeling. 

Siphia leucura, (Gm.), p. 125, ante. With respect to the rafous 
throat of this species, I find that it is assumed by every male at the 
commencement of the hot weather, or during the month of March ; 
being obtained by a partial moulting confined to the feathers of the 
throat. I think that I have seen the same remarked of the European 
S. parva. | 

Pratincola leucura, nobis, n. s. In my notice of this genus (p. 129, 
ante), 1 overlooked the present species, which is the representative of 
Pr. rubicola and of Pr. indica in Scinde.. Dimensions of the latter 
species, and general aspect of the upper-parts as in the former, but 
the rufous of the breast is confined to a rather small patch, the sides 
of the breast and the whole abdominal region, with the lower tail- 
coverts (if not the upper also), beimg pure white ; and the exterior four 
(if not five) rectrices on either side are wholly white on their mner 
webs except at tip, the dark colour at tip increasing successively to the 
outermost feather, which alone has its whole outer web dark, the rest 
having merely the terminal half of their outer webs dark-coloured. 
Described from a slightly injured male (with imperfect tail, and its 
upper coverts wanting), in full summer dress, procured by the late Sir 
Alexander Burnes in upper Scinde.* 

Tanthia flavolivacea, (Hodgson,) p. 133, ante. A finer specimen of 
this bird than the one previously described, 7. e. in fresher plumage, 
has the upper-parts fulvescent-olive, with the fulvous tinge somewhat 
stronger towards the tail, and the under-parts dilute rusty, having a 
faint golden gloss. It has much the aspect of the female Tarsiger 
chryscus, Hodg., but is readily distinguished by wanting the yellow at 
the base of the tail, and by having its under-parts much less yellow. 
From Darjeeling. 

Tesia auriceps, Hodgson, p. 137, ante. This has lately been received 
by the Society, and it appears to me to be merely a bright old male 
of T. cyaniventer, Hodgson, having (7. e. the Society’s specimen) all 
its colours more intense than usual, and the cap fine golden-green 
rather than ‘“ golden-yellow,”’ and not contrasting very “none with 
the green of the back. 

Turdus unicolor, Tickell, Gould, and 7. dissimilis, nobis, p. 144, ante. 
I regarded these birds as distinct, more from deference to the opinions 
of others than from my own conviction: and now I have procured two 


* Add Muscicapa lueionensis, var. A, Latham, to the synonymes of Pr,.caprata. 


1847.] New or Little Known Species of Birds. 475 


additional recent females which completely satisfy me of their identity. 
That described as 7’. unicolor, I now infer to be a very old female ; 
and think it probable that old males, with rufous sides (as describep 
under 7’. dissimilis) would also assume the more ashen hue of the 
upper-parts, and the spotless ashy of the throat and breast : but, in such 
case, the variation this Thrush would exhibit is most remarkable. 


Sttta europea, and S. affinis, XV, 288. Mr. Strickland informs me, 
that “‘ the bird sent as 8. europea from Norway, is the S. asiatica, v. 
uralensis, auctorum, found in Siberia and the Ural, but never yet re- 
corded from Norway, where, according to all my authorities, the true 
S. europea, with the lower-parts fully as rufous as in Hodgson’s nipa- 
lensis, is alone found.” This latter species is distingiushed from S. 
europea by its much smaller size, &c., as mentioned in a note to XV, 
289, and by a character which I did not then notice, (from an imper- 
fection of the specimens at that time before me,) viz. that the two mid- 
‘dle tail-feathers have, constantly, their basal half white, except on the 
longitudinal outer half of their exterior web. 


Totanus solitarius, Vieillot, XIII, 389. This, according to Mr. 
Strickland, is identical with Scolopax melanoleuca, Gm., and Sc. voci- 


fera, Wilson. 


P. 8S. No. 2. In the ‘ Caleutta Journal of Natural History,’ No. 28, 
p. 560, it is remarked that.the Paleornis nigrirostris of the Catalogue 
of Nepalese birds, is “asserted to be the young merely of P. pondt- 
cerianus vel mystaceus ;” and its distinctness as a species is there argued. 
The latter, however, is not the case. I have long since ascertained the 
black-billed bird to be the female of P. pondicerianus ; though occa- 
sionally, but rarely, females of this species will have a little red on the 
upper raandible, more or less. The same sexual diversity occurs in other 
species of Palcornis, as in P. caniceps and P. erythrogenys recently 
described from the Nicobar Islands, in P. columboides of the Neilgherries 
(the female of which is P. melanorhynchus of Sykes), and seemingly in 
P. bitorquatus of the Isle of France. The fine series of P. pondicerianus 
set up in the Society's Museum exhibits this fact most convincingly. 
The young female of P. pondicerianus was not long ago named P: 
modestus by Mr. Fraser (in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 16). 


The same correspondent asks—‘ Why was the publication of the 
‘Catalogue of Nepalese Birds’ discontinued after about a tithe only 
had been given?” To this I think it will be sufficient to reply, that 
every one of the novelties contamed in that catalogue has now been 


aa 2 


476 Notices and Descriptions of Birds. [May, 


published by me, excepting only such names as there were no specimens 
to answer to; of which a very few only occurred. 

A collection of birds from Afghanistan and the Deyra Doon, just 
received on loan from Capt. Hutton, affords the following novelties, 
which I proceed to describe out of hand. 

Malacocereus Huttoni, nobis. Merely differs from M. caudatus in 
its larger size, and the general paler hue of its upper parts. Length of 
wing 33 in., and of middle tail-feathers above 5 in. From Candahar. 

Carpodacus crassirostris, nobis. Length about 54 in., of wing 32 in., 
and taillgin. Bill highly Pyrrhuline, resembling that of Hemator- 
prea (XII, 950). General colour earthy grey-brown above, faintly 
tinged with crimson on the tips of the feathers ; the under-parts, cheeks, 
forehead, rump and upper tail-coverts, conspicucusly crimson-tipped ; 
and the alars and greater wing-coverts and rectrices except towards the 
tip, margined with deep crimson. Bill apparently yellow; and legs 
pale. From Afghanistan. 

Emberiza? aurifrons, nobis. A true Bunting, but with bill of 
peculiar form, much resembling that of Passer arcuatus, (Tem.), of 
South Africa. Length 54 in., of wing 3 in., and tail 24 in. ; its medial 
feathers 3 in. shorter. Forehead and vertex bright golden-saffron, much 
as in Catamblyrhynchus diadema, (Lafr.), figured by Mr. G. R. Gray ; 
occiput, cheeks, throat and fore-neck, black, passing to dusky on the 
nape and sides of the neck ; back dusky, with yellowish lateral margins 
to the feathers ; the rump towards the tail deep canary-yellow, shoulder 
of the wing golden fulvous-yellow, and margins of the remiges and 
rectrices saffron-yellow ; under tail-coverts pale canary-yellow, and rest 
of the lower parts albescent tinged with yellow, with a dusky central 
streak to each feather, and those of the breast dusky with yellow mar- 
gins; axillaries pure white; a pale bar on the wing; and the bill 
and feet dark. From the north-west Himalaya. 

Melanocorypha torquata, nobis. Afghanistan Lark, XIII, 962. 
Nearly allied to M. calandra, from which it differs in its smaller size, and 
general paler hue; the black of the sides of the breast meeting across. 
Length of wing 42 in., and of tail 24 in. ; tarse under | in, The exte- 
rior web of the outermost tail-feather is not white, as in M. calandra. 


NSP OTRO IRARANPNANI NIN NINN LIRA SPR PSS IN NDS INI SIRI LIRR SNPS 


1847.| Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. 4 


“TI 
Ni 


Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad, South India, com- 
prising a brief notice of the old Diamond Pits at Dhone, by Capt. 
NEWBOLD. 


From the granite rock of Gooty northerly, to about a mile or two 
beyond Piapully, granite is the prevalent rock. 

The pebbles of a small stream running at the foot of the granite hill 
of Piapully, I found encrusted with carbonate of soda, and had the 
appearance of having been snowed upon. Reddish felspar is the 
prevailing mineral in the granite,—associated with chlorite, and acty- 
nolite, as at Gooty. 

Beyond Piapully, which is 12} miles from Gooty, pebbles of sand-stone 
and pudding-stone, quartz and chert, some of them angular and little 
worn, indicate the proximity of an aqueous deposit, which is shortly 
afterwards seen in situ, as a bed of pudding-stone capping the summit 
of a rugged hill sloping southerly, and again sweeping up, saddle 
shape. On the opposite side into a steep crag of granite scattered 
blocks of basaltic green-stone are seen in this vicinity ; and the subsoil 
is often a bed of kunker. 

From the granite limits to Kurnool.—¥rom this locality to within 
afew miles south of the Tumbuddra, a range of hills having an 
average apparent height of 250 feet, the level and peculiar con- 
tour of which distinctly informs us of their nature,—continues 
flanking the right, or east, of the Kurnool at irregular distances 
of 2 or 3 miles, but now and then throwing promontory-like bluffs to 
the westward. These hills are of sand-stone, dipping slightly towards 
the east ; and the rocks in the plain at their base granite, gneiss and 
hornblende schist. The sand-stone caps the granite, which is seen at 
several points along the range, forming the base and about three fourths 
of the height of some hills, asin the vicinity of Dhone and Ramulacota, 
on which rests a thick bed of sand-stone. The lower layers next the 
granite are often of pudding-stone, or conglomerate. The imbedded 
rocks are almost entirely pebbles of white and rust-stained quartz, 
much rounded, from the size of a filbert to that of a man’s head. A 
few pebbles of trap, hornblende, tough actinolitie green felspar, and 
flinty slate,—the very hardest portions of hypogene and granitic rocks, 


478 Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. [ May, 


are occasionally seen ; but I did not observe a fragment of the ordinary 
mass of granite or gneiss. 

In shooting and other excursions among these hills across the N. 
and 8. strike of the strata, I observed to the eastward the ordinary 
blue lime-stone of Cuddapah resting conformably on this sand-stone, 
and beds of a more recent sand-stone and conglomerate capping the 
lime-stone. This is the celebrated diamond conglomerate of Banagan- 
pilly. That it is of more recent origin than the lime-stone and subja- 
cent sand-stone, is proved by superposition, and by its imbedding frag- 
ments of chert derived from veins in the lime-stone. 

These chert pebbles are recognized, not only by mineral identity, 
but by their imbedding the oolitic looking globules which are seen in 
myriads in the lime-stone cherts and jaspers. 

I am not aware that the difference in the age of these two sand-stone 
beds has been before noticed, or that the existence of an older sand- 
stone formation underlying the Cuddapah lime-stone and the diamond 
conglomerate, has hitherto been pointed out either by Malcolmson, 
Voysey, or other writers on the geology of South India. I found sul- 
phate of barytes in fine crystals in the lime-stone; and beds of a fine 
steatite, (occasionally passing into French chalk,) which are quarried 
and the steatite exported to Madras, and other places. It is cut into 
pencils and extensively used by the natives for writing accounts, &c. in 
their black books of prepared cloth, and also for smoothing chunam. 

Along the base of the hills half a mile N. E. of Dhone, the ground 
for half a mile is covered with old diamond excavations in a bed of | 
sand-stone gravel, now covered with rubbish and bushes. North of 
this 10 or 12 miles are the diamond mines of Ramulacota before 
described.* | 

The diamond pits of Dhone have not been worked within the memo- 
ry of the oldest man of the village; but he says his forefathers 
dug there: with what success is uncertain. Their being neglected 
may be perhaps received as a negative proof of their unproductiveness, 
or of having been exhausted. 

Slightly thermal and perennial springs, and dykes of basaltic green- 
stone posterior to the sand-stones and limestone formation, which they 
penetrate and alter, are of frequent occurrence throughout the diamond 


* Journal Royal Asiatic Society, 18438, p. 231. 


1847.] Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. 479 


area; as well as saline incrustations of carbonate and muriate of soda, 
both on the banks of the rivulets, and on the surface of the granite- 
based plains on the western flank of these hills. 


The dykes of basaltic green-stone are occasionally seen traversing 
the granite and hypogene schists of the plain, like a black wall, and 
burying themselves in the sand-stone and lime-stone range to the east- 
ward. An instance of this is observed about 4 miles 8. of Dhone at 
the boundary pass. This dyke is in some places 150 feet high and 
200 broad. Its course can be traced for miles. 


The hill of Yeldoorty (22 miles S. from Kurnool) is of a poor ferru- 
ginous quartz rock veined with white quartz, the rocks in the plain, at 
its base, are granite and gneiss, with reddish felspar, penetrated by trap 


dykes. 


At Woolundarconda (144 miles S. of Kurnool), the granite rises 
in small, but picturesque tors and logging Stones. Here the sand-stone 
range approaches the road. A little further N. massive hornblende 
schist is seen in weathered and apparently waterworn masses. 


The range terminates in the bluff whale-backed, sand-stone hill of 
Juggernauth, about 33 miles south of Kurnool, whence the blue lime- 
stone and its associated shales base the plain to the banks of the 
Tumbuddra and Hendri at Kurnool,—the hypogene schists occasional- 
ly showing themselves. Here regur is the prevailing surface. From 
Gooty to Taikoor reddish sandy alluvial soil is much blended with it. 


From Kurnool to Paugtoor.—After crossing the Rajghat ferry over 
the Tumbuddra, the tongue of land (here 16 miles broad), which lies 
between it and the Kistnah, is traversed ; like most others trips of land | 
similarly placed, its surface is slightly convex,—rising gently towards 
the centre from the beds of the rivers which flank it. It is for the 
most part covered with regur, occasionally mixed with alluvium, based 
on the blue lime-stone of Cuddapah,—a bed of kunker often intervening. 
This soil is often 15 feet thick. 


The wells naturally deepen towards the centre. One is 61 feet 
deep. The lime-stone is rarely seen above the surface; the dip ap- 
pears to be quaqna versal in some low mammiform elevations; in other 
localities it is nearly horizontal, or dipping at an angle of 5° towards the 
east. 


480 Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad.  [May, 


Angular fragments of granite, gneiss, and hornblende schist sparingly 
scattered among the pebbles of the lime-stone formation on the river 
bank, attest the proximity of these rocks. 

Rectangular blocks of a greenish crystalline limestone with reddish 
argillaceous, and arenaceous veins ;—imbedding iron pyrites in cubic 
crystals. It is at first sight difficult to pronounce whether this rock is 
hornblende schist, rendered calcareous by contact with the lime-stone, 
or lime-stone which has taken up hornblende. I have little doubt that 
these blocks are from the junction line of these two rocks. It effer- 
vesces but feebly with acids. 

The Kistnah at Paugtoor.—The Moorish fort and pettah of Pang- 
toor stand on the right bank of the Kistnah in the Nizam’s territories, 
the 8. frontier of which has been just crossed about half a mile N. of 
Kurnool. The bank here is formed by two perpendicular cliffs of light 
bluish grey lime-stone, in nearly horizontal strata, divided by vertical 
fissures from summit to base, like those in the sand-stone ranges of Gun- 
dicota and Cuddapah. | 

The Kistnah here does not appear broader than the Tumbuddra at 
Kurnool, which, at the narrowest part between Raza and the fort, 
measures exactly 616 yards from bank to bank. The river was filled 
with the muddy freshes of the monsoon, and running, near Pangtoor 
at the rate of about 24 inches per second. A velocity calculated 
strong enough to transport pebbles the size of an inch in diameter ; 
velocity, No. 6, of the scale laid down by the talented Secretary of the 
Royal Geographical Society,—Col. Jackson. It is, however, clear 
from an inspection of the size of some of the pebbles in the river’s bed, 
(some of which are as large as a hen’s egg,) that the velocity must often 
be increased to No. 7 of the scale; or to 36 inches per second. The 
temperature of the water is the same as that of the Tumbuddra (a foot 
below surface), viz., 79° Faht. exceeding by one degree the average 
temperature of rain-water in this part of the country. The temperature 
in the shade at the time of observation 86°; time, 2 P. m. 

A tumblerful of the muddy water deposited, after standing 6 hours, 
sth ofits bulk. The sediment was a fine reddish silt, which effervesced 
with acid ; but is less calcareous than that of the Tumbuddra. The 
reddish colour of the deposit brought down by the Kistnah, a river 
which completely traverses the great overlying trap region, is worthy 


1847.| Notes, chrefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. 48} 


of notice by those geologists who consider the regur or black soil of 
India as a fluviatile deposit ; or as the washings of trap rocks. 

The still unflooded parts of the river bed consisted of collections of 
light-coloured sand and silt, and accumulations of pebbles from the size 
of a No. 4 pellet to that of an egg, as before stated. These pebbles 
were chiefly of quartz, calcedony, cornelian, agate, and Mocha stones : 
fragments of onyx and sardonyx rare and small. Also common and 
semi-opal ; heliotrope, and jaspers of various shades of red, brown, 
green and yellow. 

I picked up some rolled bits of radiated zeolite, limestone, pegmati- 
tic granite with reddish felspar, and find nodules of cream-coloured 
and greyish white kunker. 

Nothing but the very toughest fragment of the overlying trap, 
whence these calcedonies and zeolites have been washed for a distance of 
not less than 100 miles to the N. W. have remained entire; these 
debris we must look for nearer to their situs, or try to recognize it in 
the sands: thus following the maxim in geological dynamics ; viz., that 
in alluvial beds the most indurated portions of transported matter 
will always be found at the greatest distance from their situs. 

I am informed that inthe bed of the river nearer its embouchure, 
the cat’s eye and diamond are found in the Polnad Cirear, and I know 
that the last named gem is found in the bed of the Kistnah in the 
eastern parts of Kurnool near Siddeswar, and still further east beyond 
the wilds of Perwut and the diamond mines of Purtial, Moogaloor, 
Codavacutloo, and Oostapully, which are on the N. bank of the Kistnah ; 
the diamond I have no doubt, has been washed out of the diamond 
sandstone formation of these tracts east of Paugtoor and Kurnool; but 
the cat’s eye, like those in Ceylon, is probably from the gneiss or grani- 
tic rocks. 

From the Kistnah to Judcherla, 60 miles northerly.—The lime- 
stone formation extends about three miles m the plain north of the 
Kistnah, when granitic rocks are met with associated with gneiss in 
the vicinity of Myapore. This granite rock spring up irregularly 
from the surface of the plain, leaving often level spaces between each 
hill, but those of gneiss usually form short, and more regularly conti- 
nued ridges. 

These elevations, however irregular in detail, have a general direction 

3 R 


#82 Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. [Mavy, 


of E. S, E., which has apparently determined that of the Kistnah across 
the peninsula after‘escaping from the overlying trap formation. One of 
the peaks rises from the rest hke truncated cone. 

As I was obliged to pass the granite and lme-stone junction lme by 
night, I am unable to afford a description of the disturbance, or of the 
mineral alteration in the latter rock which might be anticipated. 

A succession of these rocks continues to be crossed until Judcherla 
is approached, 60 miles north from the Kistnah, when they sink into 
smocth undulating plams with an occasional granite rock starting up. 
The rocks in the centre of this granitic zone, in the vicinity of Paungal, 
attain the highest elevation, (viz. about 1000 feet above the plain.) 
The highest which I had an opportunity of measuring trigonometri- 
eally, cid not exceed 950 feet. 

The granite 1s generally small-grained, with reddish felspar, often 
coloured (as near Paungal) with actimolite or chlorite in quartz and 
felspar veins. Here also a graphie granite occurs in the gneiss. 

Granitoidal gneiss. (for the transition from granite to gneiss is imper- 
ceptible, and the alteration by contact under great heat mutual) is seen 
in low and rather smoothly swelling hills, around the bases of the 
loftier granite peaks. 7 

The basaltic green-stone dykes have usually an easterly direction :— 
and, asa general rule, large dykes are crystalline towards the centre, 
and compact at the edges like the lava dykes of Somma and Etna. I 
observed crystallized epidote on a dyke at Paungal. Another dyke is 
seen close to the west side of the town of Judcherla, about 40 paces 
broad, and may be traced westerly as far as the eye can reach. 

From Judcherla to Hydrabad, 594 miles northerly—F¥rom Jud- 
cherla the country is open; the formation gneiss,—penetrated by 
granite and basaltic green-stone. At Nagumpilly the fort stands on 
a bed of quartz in the granite which is intersected by a basal- 
tic dyke containing hypersthene. A second dyke is seen between 
Nagumpilly and Eurrucknugger; and two others a little north of Fur- 
rucknugger. This latter is from 30 to 50 paces broad, and takes a 
zigzag direction towards the east. Abundant efflorescences of natron 
take place on the surface of the soil im the vicinity. 

Beds of quartz become more frequent in the granite as Hydrabad is 
neared. At Nagumpilly, just mentioned, 47 miles south of Hydrabad, 


1847.| Notes, chiefity Geological, from Gooty lo Hydrabad. 45é 


the bed or vein runs east by sonth, and in many places is amethys- 
fine. 

In a vein of quartz near Palmacul the purple colour of the amethyst 
is more decided ; and, at this place, I detected, in combination with 
oxydulated iron ore, oxide of manganese, which I have little doubt im- 
parts this beautiful tinge to the quartz. 

At Shemsabad, about 19 miles south from wparapad another vein 
of similar quarz occurs. 

Hydrabad.—Uydrabad is situated in the lowest part of a shallow 
flat valley, bounded by irregular granite rocks which rarely rise more 
than 400 feet above its general level. According to the barometric 
measurements of the Trigonometric survey, Hydrabad is 1672 ft. above 
the level of the sea; Secunderabad 1837 ft.; and the granite rock of 
Moel Ally 2017 ft. The Mussy river flows easterly through this valley ; 
and, by a transverse break through the north and south ridge of Bho- 
nageer, about 18 miles to the eastward, to the Kistnah which it joins 
at Wujerabad, about 47 miles west of Amrawuatty. 

The plains around Hydrabad are often crowded with ters, logging 

stones, and globular masses of granite, which Broignart, on the auth ri- 
ty of De Luc, has pronounced to be boulders; but which are, without 
doubt in situ, as I have stated in a former paper on supposed boulder 
formations in South India. 
_ The prevailing colour of the granite is reddish, owing to that of the 
felspar, which predominates almost to the exclusion of quartz.—The 
latter mineral is not wanting in the granite ; but, from some unknown 
cause in nature’s laboratory, has been segregated in large veins and beds, 
instead of being diffused in grains throughout the substance of the 
rock. These veins, or beds, are still more amethystine than those of 
Shemsabad, Palmacul, and Nagumpully. Mr. Malcolmson is of opi- 
nion that the crystallized specimens found near the European barracks 
are fit for the purposes of jewellery. Another amethystine vein occurs, 
according to Christie, near the British native cavalry lines. Mr. Mai- 
colmson has found it at Bekonurpett, about 60 miles north of Hydra- 
bad, and I have traced it 46 miles westerly to Sedashipett ;—and 47 
iniles southerly to the vicinity of Nagumpully. It occurs often at 
Hydrabad in hexagonal pyramidal prisms filling cavities in quarts. 
Voysey mentions their oceurrence at Pitlan and Ghazipettah, 


o x2 


434 Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. {Max, 


Four or five dykes of basaltic green-stone, or possibly the ramifications 
of one enormous coulée, traverse the granite rocks of Hydrabad with a 
general easterly direction. One of them runs through the tombs of 
the kings at Golconda, and is probably identical with that seen six 
miles to the eastward between the British Residency and the great tank 
of Hussain Saugor. From the blasted and chiselled appearance of 
some of the blocks and mineral resemblance, this dyke has evidently 
contributed part of the material for the dark and highly polished 
slabs of which the royal tombs are constructed. It must not be 
confounded, as has been done by Malcolmson,* with the dark 
taleose rock of the pillars supporting the tombs of Hyder and 
Tippoo at Seringapatam. The rock on which stands the celebrated 
fortress of Golconda is of a granite resembling that of Gooty, with 
reddish felspar, quartz in small grains, dark dull green scales of mica, 
and a little hornblende. Actynolite, both erystallized and blended 
with compact felspar and quartz, occurs in veins pretty generally 
throughout the granitic rocks of Hydrabad.—A rough trigonometric 
observation from a paced base makes the rock of Golconda 450 ft. 
above the general level of the plain. 

Soil.—The surface soil, in the vicinity of Hydrabad, is the reddish 
granite alluvium, partly washed down from the sides of the neighbour- 
ing hills, and partly the debris of the decaying rocks on the spot. It 
is originally reddish in colour, but often altered by cultivation and 
manuring into an ashy grey. It generally contains a small proportion 
of calcarious and saline matter,—derived, probably, from the infiltration 
of water which has held these minerals in solution. 

The alluvium brought down by the Mussy (here from 100 to 180 
yards broad), from the westward, is a reddish sand and silt; also beds 
of pebbles chiefly granite, nodules of ferrugmous clay, (apparently from 
lateritic beds,) and kunker. 

Voysey states that this river rises in a granitic country, (according to 
Hamilton, it rises about 43 miles W. from Hydrabad, at the Anantghur 
pagoda,) and attributes to this cause the circumstance of its not having 
black alluvium or regur on its banks. (Vide my remarks on the 
Kistnah im this paper). It may be here stated that the Tumbuddra 


* Madras Journal, July, 1836, p. 199. 


1847.| Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. 485 


has its rise, and course, entirely in a granite country before it passes 
through the great black soil or regur plains of Bellary—whose granite 
and gneiss are also the principal rocks. 

The surface soil from Hydrabad southerly to the Kistnah near 
Myapore, is generally a reddish alluvium, sometimes more or less sandy, 
or clayey, according to the prevalence of felspar or quartz in the adja- 
cent rock. It varies from the zero of the bare rock to 12 feet in 
thickness. Sometimes a bed of kunker, (from 6 inches to 2 feet thick) 
intervenes between it and the rock; but more frequently the loose 
gravelly debris of the subjacent granite or gneiss, which is extremely 
prone to decay on exposure to the air, or to moisture, whether from 
springs or rivers. 

Where subterranean springs exist this bed of Mhurrum, as it is called, 
is sometimes from 30 to 50 feet thick ; but, more commonly, water is 
found at depths from 6 to 30 ft. Springs impregnated with calcareous or 
saline matter seem to effect the breaking up of the rock to a greater 
extent than those of pure water. 

Mr. Malcolmson,* in speaking of this granitic debritus, thus observes : 
“It has been stated by Dr Christie, that this debris is, at a considerable 
depth, again consolidated by pressure. In the Edmburgh Journal of 
Science, 1828-9, this is also mentioned as a fact, common to the rocks 
of other parts of India. With every respect for his authority, I cannot 
avoid the conviction, that the inference was founded on imperfect obser- 
vation, and that it has since been employed in Europe, in support of 
an ill-founded theory. The‘ Mhurrum’ or gravel found in deepening 
a well at Bolarum (6 miles from Secunderabad) upwards of 50 feet deep, 
during the dry season of 1832, is not in the slightest degree conso- 
lidated.”” ‘* Much of the debris of Secunderabad is, however, consoli- 
dated by lime, which is seen to agglutinate the fragments, or to pass 
in vein-like lines or nodules through the gravel. Occasionally there 
are only a few fragments of quartz or felspar scattered through the 
kunker, or they appear to be inserted into the surface.” “* The debris 
is also sometimes united into pulverulent masses, by the oxidation of 
the iron contained on the sienite; but this takes place at the surface, 
and seldom acquires any degree of hardness.” 

While perfectly coinciding with the general accuracy of my lamented 


* Madras Journal, July 1836, p. 198. 


486 Notes, chiefly Geological, from Gooty to Hydrabad. |May, 


friend’s remarks, yet it cannot be denied that great and long contt- 
nued pressure im general tends to consolidation. That it has not 
produced this effect on the gravel of some of the deeper wells at 
Hydrabad is, as Mr. Malcolmson observes, strictly the case, but 
consolidation has been counteracted in a great measure, by the conti- 
nual state of moistness in which the debris is kept by the percolation 
of the spring water in its way upwards and the constant separation and 
shifting of the particles by water in motion. The temperature of 
a perennial spring of pure water in the garden of an Arab outside the 
city walls, I found to be 80° Faht. Temp. of air in shade—89°. 

The temperature of the Bhugga, whence many of the Mahomedan 
nobles and the Minister Chundoo Lal procure water, was 79° 2’. Faht. 
Temperature of air im shade 87°. 

‘The mean temperature of Hydrabad is I believe about 80°.—Height 
above sea by boilmg point of water 1702 feet. 

On my way to Hydrabad, at Mahanundipet, about 42 miles north 
of the Kistnah, date, June 4th, 1839, at 10° 15’ a. m., I witnessed a 
phenomenon rather rare in this part of India, viz.—an annular solar 
rainbow. Its radius, taken to the inner circle from the sun’s centre, 
was 22° 30.’ It continued advancing with the sun towards the zenith, 
but disappeared gradually, before the meridian was attained, at an 
attitude of about 75°. 

The sky was lightly veiled with thin grey clouds (cirri), amid which 
the sun shone with a watery light, and defined dise, encircled by four 
differently coloured, contiguous zones. The prismatic tint of the band 
nearest the sun was orange, then yellow, pale green, and violet in suc- 
cession. The united breadth of the four zones amounted to 38’. 

The wind was blowing strong and steadily from the west. The 
thermometer in shade 80°. It had been on previous days usually 
from 83° to 86° in the shade. At this time the temperature of the 
open air was 86°. All the lunar halos in this country which I have 
measured have a radius from 22° to 23°; and there is, in general, a 
slight depression in the thermometer at the time of their prevalence. 


PONE NPN ANNI ND IP A NID PPD PD 


1847. | On Teredo Navalis, §c. 487 


On Terepo Navauis and a natural defence against its ravages, by Mr. 
LEHMANN : from the Transactions of the Scandinavian Naturalists 
of Copenhagen, 1840; translated and communicated by Dr. T. 
CANTOR. 


Teredo Navalis, an important agent in the economy of nature, is 
universally known by the damage it inflicts upon the wood work of 
posts and ships. While accomplishing the imtention of nature in 
destroying decayed wood in the sea, it at the same time attacks ships, 
bulwarks and the piles of quays. Like all animals intended by nature to 
clear her stage, the Teredo is endowed with immense power of repro- 
duction, and therefore by its numbers becomes more destructive than 
the largest animals which come in collision with the industry of man. 
Every museum exhibits specimens of wood perforated by this shell-fish, 
which limes its abode with lime, in composition similar to that of its 
shells. But my inquiries as to the length of time required by the 
animal to perforate the wood, have hitherto been fruitless. Some samples 
of the works of Teredines are here submitted, because I am enabled to 
attest the age of the artificers. Five years after the posts of bulwarks of 
Kyholm were erected they appeared in the state now exhibited. From 
these it will be seen that the Teredines, during the said period, have 
attained to their full size, of more than 12 inches in length, and half an 
inch in diameter. It may therefore be inferred, that they thrive, and 
combine quick growth with great multiplication. 

The more important the works are, which are attacked by the Teredo, 
and the quicker the destruction is perpetrated, the greater the solicitude 
which has been exerted to defend the wood, and many applications 
have been tried, but none have stood proof in the sea. The only 
remedy hitherto successful, has been to cover the wood with plates of 
metal, of copper, brass or zinc. But they are too expensive to be 
used universally, nor are they easily protected. 

I believe to have found a defence offered by nature herself, which I 
therefore recommend to the attention of naturalists. The pilot and 
light vessel, placed in the North-Sea, in the mouth of the Eider, 
requires not to be coppered, and, as she has to sail but few miles, is 
therefore provided with a sheathing of plain boards. The Teredo 
attacks the latter indeed, but cannot penetrate to the sides of the vessel, 


488 On Teredo Navalis, Se. [ May, 


as the interval between them and the sheathing is filled with a layer 
of cow-hairs. The boards of the sheathing are annually repaired or 
renewed. Last year it was reported that the sheathing required no 
renewal, “ although” it was thickly covered with muscles. This cir- 
cumstance reminded me that I earlier had found no Teredines in 
bulwarks on which muscles (mytilus edulis), were fixed, an observation, 
which I however had not then followed up. At present I have 
reason to believe, that the sheathing of the pilot-vessel was not attacked, 
because it was covered by muscles. As the latter may easily be bred, 
they offer a natural defence, of no expense, and may besides be turned 
to economical account. 

The muscle attaches itself to piles by means of the dyssus, or fila- 
ments, and multiplies so readily that its young, if suffered, soon cover 
the whole surface. In the frith of Apenrade piles have, from time 
immemorial, been sunk, on purpose for the sake of the muscles, which 
in the course of four years attain to a length of 3 to 4 inches. They are 
consumed either in fresh state, or are pickled and exported in large 
quantities. The smaller muscles are thrown back near the piles to 
which they soon again attach themselves, The short period in which 
they will cover a surface, I have had an opportunity of observing, when 
a new light-vessel was placed near Laessde in Kattegat. In 6 months 
her bottom was covered with a thick mass of young muscles, which had 
tended to impede the speed of the vessel. Two feet square of the 
mass, submitted to my examination, consisted of several layers of mus- 
cles, 2 inches in length, so firmly connected by the byssus, that a needle 
could not pass between them. No single muscle could be detached 
without the whole mass following. 

Teredo breeds during the dog-days, the muscle some months earlier. 
Where the latter has fixed itself, the eggs of the Teredo cannot reach 
the wood, nay, by intercepting the communication with the sea, the 
muscle will suffocate Teredines, which may happen earlier to have 
found their way into the wood. 

At first I supposed the dyssus might possibly contain something 
specifically repulsive to the J’eredo, and I therefore had it submitted 
to the chemical analysis of Dr. Scharling, which however has not given 
the result expected. It is the mere mechanical covering of the muscles, 
which prevents the Teredo from reaching the wood. 


1847.] On Teredo Navalis, &e. 489 


[The valuable hint contained in Dr. Cantor's communication will 
doubtless be appreciated by all such as are interested in the protection 
of wood-work from the attacks of the Teredo. Nowhere would this 
natural opponent of its ravages be more serviceable than in the Hugli; 
but the Mytilacea are, strictly speaking, inhabitants of salt water, 
although some of the family are capable of being localised in rivers, 
as is the case with Dreissina polymorphus, discovered by Pallas in 
the Volga, and some species of Modiola. The valves of two species 
of Mytilus have occasionally brought to me from the Hugli; one, 
closely allied to M. edulis, but less ventricose, and easily distin- 
guished from it by the cardinal teeth; the other apparently identical 
with the M. crenatus of Lamarck, figured in the Conchologia Systema- 
tica of Reeves ; but as neither of these, nor Dreissina, of which I have 
several specimens, have been found alive, I think their presence 
altogether accidental ; they may have found their way to this river 
either with ballast or adhering to the bottoms of vessels. Modiola 
-emarginata, (Benson,) however, inhabits the water of Tolly’s nullah, as 
I was informed a few weeks ago by its distinguished describer himself. 


Ag ye G:] 


QPDD ALLL PLP PLP LLLP LLP SIP LIL PIP LPI PAPILLA P AALS. 


ww 
@— 


wai y ies > : a ee : 
Ais field. ‘ohh ‘rh. ae a or ee ey, tReet 
ak eek “Ng pietqathins a setae hence 3 


ane ath tee: “igh Bik fe 
hic. Selaneleirbal'n SY nati: jon 
Sle watt, eee 
wit may Pi a Banieraie ‘ 


‘lhe fa eeu Coe gt ites ener 
raretaae ae bat alGcntiy , yea aim dada mg 
aaene tae al ituriagey. cagestle Dias 
i ‘eM y ‘Sree ys ae wire 
eb nas 8 esta ahi: ita a mie. ria 2 ay | . 
P A) VOR Lae My! a an ii ete ch ie ante sg 
hu? Tart cot agra conta ; 1 heal toagee oie da bas i 


ipl) ov unis egal ig leet aposelts 3 Bia ages 1 
ne & as . 
‘ my pit ‘ 
i re fg 7 é = 
; ; : 4 ae 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 


APRIL, 1847. 


Lieut.-Col. Forses, in the Chair. 

The Proceedings of last meeting were read and adopted. 

The accounts and vouchers of the previous month were submitted as 
usual. 

The following gentlemen were then duly elected members of the 
Society :— 

The Rev. S. Slater. 

Count Lackersteen. 

D. Money, Esq. C. S. 

Tieut. Staples, Bengal Artillery. 

The Senior Secretary communicated the desire of Capt. Jas. Abbott, 
Boundary Commissioner, Punjab, to rejoin the Society from Ist 
January, 1847. 

The following gentlemen were named as candidates for admission :— 

Capt. J. C. Hanyngton, 24th N. I. Dep. Com. Chota Nagpore, 
proposed by Lieut.-Col. Ousely, seconded by Capt. Kittoe. 

Rev. James Thomson, proposed by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, seconded by 
Col. Forbes. 

Geo. Udny, Esq. C. 8., proposed by Lieut.-Col. Forbes, seconded 
by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 

R. Thwaites, Esq. Professor Hoogly College, proposed by Mr. Jones, 
seconded by Mr. Kerr. 

M. E. Gibelin, Procureur du Roi a Pondicherry, proposed by Mr. 
Piddington, seconded by Mr. Laidlay. 

J. R. Logan, Esq. Singapore, proposed by Dr, O’Shaughnessy, 
seconded by Mr. Laidlay. 

3s 2 


492 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [APRIL, 


James Stewart Blakie Scott, Esq. 
"alconer Chute Sandes, Hsq. 

Warren Hastings Leslie Frith, Esq. 

Robt. Thomas, Esq. proposed by Mr. R. W. G. Frith, seconded by 
Mr. Laidlay. 

(Mr. E. Ryan’s name was withdrawn from the list of members at 
his own request.) 

Read letters from Capt. Kittoe, forwarding specimens as follows. 


To W. B. O’SHaucunessy, Esq. 


My pear S1r,—I have the pleasure to send a few specimens as per list 
4 Specimens sandstone. 1 the margin. They are trifling but may be useful 
era till better are supplied. 


1 of yellow ochre. 


1 Garnets? The black sand is that in which the gold is found 
2 Rock at Ranchee. 4 gris 
1 Black sand of the Gold, Wherever washed for in the south-western districts. 


1 Plambago 2 The minute specimen resembling plumbago was 
found together with the sand by Major Armstrong in Singhboom. 
The yellow oxide (or ochre) appears to be of a superior kind, and would 
probably fetch a good price in the English market for yellow paint. 
Your’s faithfully, 


Ist April, 1847. M. KiTror. 


From Capt. Jas. Abbott, givmg a description of the process of 
manufacturing the Damask sword blades of Goojerat. 

From Sec. to Sup. of Marine forwarding Meteorological Register for 
February, from Kyook Phyoo. 

From B. Hodgson, Esq. forwarding a paper on the Tibetan Badger, 
Taxidea Leucurus, with plates. 

Ditto on the Hispid Hare of Bootan, (with fia ) 

From Capt. James Abbott, enclosing a drawing of Sculptures du& 
from the site of the Indo-greek city of Bucephalia on the Hydaspes. 

The above papers were directed to be published in the Journal. 

From Syed Yar Ali, requesting patronage for a work entitled “The 
Ookburee” a commentary on Arabic poetry. (Referred to the Oriental 
Section.) 

From Mr. Hodgson, applying for copies of the Tibetan Grammar 
and Dictionary of the late Csoma de Koros, for the use of a Native 
traveller and scholar ; offering payment for the same. 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 493 


Resolved that the books be presented to Mr. Hodgson, with the 
Society’s acknowledgments for the valuable contributions received from 
him this evening. 

From Capt. Kittoe, torwarding volcanic specimens from mount 
Merope, on part of Col. Garstin, Bengal Engineers. 


To W. B. O'SHAUGHNESSY, Esq. 

My pear S1r,—I beg to forward herewith on the part of Col. Garstin, 
Engineers, some specimens of substances ejected during the late eruption of 
Mount Merope in Java, also a piece of Lava from Vesuvius, in which a copper 
coin is embedded, having been thrown into it whilst in its heated state. 

The three specimens from Merope are curious ; they are said to be different 
from what this volcano has hitherto been known to discharge. 

The eruption took place on the 2d September last, (1846) commencing at 
5 A.M. when it belched forth flames and smoke accompanied with a loud 
noise—at 6 a shower of ashes commenced falling and continued till mid- 
night ; the following day the eruption ceased and the mountain again became 
at rest. | 

Col. Garstin begs the Society’s acceptance of the specimens. 

28th March, 1847. M. Kirror. 


From Capt. Kittoe, forwarding notes on the Temples and Ruins 
of Domga. Mer 

Ditto on the Viharas of Behar. 

Ditto on the sculptures of Bodh Gyah. 

Ditto on the caves of Barabar, and presenting various Budhist sculp- 
tures and inscriptions from Barabar—and on the part of Col. Ouseley 
an iuscription from Mynpat. 

It was further proposed by Capt. Kittoe, duly seconded and re- 
solved, 

That it should be observed as a rule henceforth that all inscriptions 
should be rendered in the vernacular, and together with’a transcript of 
them in their original language be printed and a few copies presented 
on the part of the Society, through the contributors or other channel, 
to the zemindars, rajas, and priesthood at and near the locality whence 
obtained. 

The following letter from Capt. Kittoe, having been mislaid by that 
gentleman was recorded for publication. 


494 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ APRIL, 


To W. B. O’SHAuGHNESSY Esq. 
Senr. Secy. Asiatic Society. 

My pear Srr,—Having now seen the supplementary number of the 
Journal of our Society, I beg to answer the call of members assembled at the 
May meeting, therein recorded, and offer my opinion on the suggestions of 
Mr. J. Muir, touching the subject of adopting Hindu and Jain Architecture 
in designing and building the new Colleges. 

I am of opinion that the Hindu or the Budhist styles, could well be adopt- 
ed; of the Jain, I can say nothing, not having met with any specimens, ex- 
cept what are given in Tod’s work, and too indistinct to copy from ; however 
I would offer a few remarks applicable to any order of architecture, Classic, 
Gothic, Saracenic, or Indian, &c. 

It has ever appeared to me that those races who were sufficiently advanced 
in civilization to practise architecture and sculpture, had no doubt fixed rules 
for guidance im their designs ; that each had marked pecularities, and striking 
dissimilarities, whlch had only been deviated from in later times, through vari- 
ous causes. The chief of these would seem to have been the result of inter- 
national intercourse from conquest. The conquerors wishing to establish 
their own, but with imperfect means of instructing the conquered, who on 
their side were disinclined to part with their favorite forms. 

The blending of one style with another, however skilfully performed and 
pleasing the effect to the eye of the multitude, is not to be lauded ; something 
ever remains wanting, and offends that of men of taste, of many even who 
feeling defect to exist, could not point out m what particular ; hence I must 
differ from Mr. Muir, as to his proposal to collect and put together fragments 
such as those displayed in Tod’s Rajastan; imdeed, the extreme richness of 
detail would alone render the copying them impracticable in these times of 
rigid economy and utilitarianism ; we must then look to the most simple forms, 
of which we have an abundance close to Benares itself, (where one College is 
about to be built) without borrowing from Rajpootana. I allude to sundry 
fragments in the city and the vast ruins at Jounpoor appropriated by the 
Mahomedans im early times. 

For “ Indo-Mahomedan” details my publication on that subject affords 
ample data ; a judicious application of them alone is all that is necessary. I 
however must here lament my past imability to complete what I began; I 
intended to have classed each style or stage of this clever compound under a 
separate head to prevent the architect and builder making those displeasing 
jumbles of ornamental parts and of other features which are ever and anon 
perpetrated in the present day, in the works of native architects in particular, 
such as Saracenic arches springing from lean Corinthian shafts and capitals, 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 495 


a jumble of rich frieze ornaments and cornices in the place of simple brack- 
ets, and the elegant “ Chujja’” (projecting eaves) and many other absurdities. 
In fact, Indian architecture in our day, is what ancient English, commonly 
called “ Gothic,” was at the period of its decline in the reigns of Elizabeth, 
and Henry the eighth, nor has any great improvement in this respect taken 
place im our own time. Much may be attributed to want of knowledge and 
taste in design ; architects, thinkimg to make up for these defects, by loading 
the surface with minute ornamental detail; also to false economy in stinting 
the extent and solidity of the structure ; indeed this is the first error, profuse 
ornament to cover the defect; the next, one which of itself defeats the 
great object, nay, acts in a reverse ratio. Minute ornament is highly expen- 
sive to execute, difficult to protect and to keep in repair, consequently not 
lasting ; therefore to be avoided. 

The proportions of Indian buildings differ so greatly from those in Euro- 
pean countries, that there is no one style, which would not to some degree 
require modification, and I see no reasonable objection, provided it be judici- 
ously done. 

To give effect to the exterior elevation of a building, domes and cupolas 
are essential, but these belong rather to Mahomedan works. The pyramidal 
roofs of Hindu, Jain and Budhist edifices are heavy, unless made of a costly 
description, and it must be remembered that we have no pure examples of 
early domestic buildings to guide us, therefore I entertain the opinion that 
the Puthan or early Mahomedan would be the best suited, not only from its 
near approach to the Hindu, but from its simplicity and consequent cheap- 
ness of execution, besides its admitting of wider latitude of design. 

Were sufficient funds available in any instance, a magnificent edifice in 
purely Hindu form, could be designed with slight modification of the size of 
the doors and windows. 

Of the Badshahi or later Mogul works, we have so many fine examples, 
that were funds available there would be nothing to prevent the carrying out 
of designs which for grandeur would even exceed them, provided good ones 
be forthcoming. I need hardly add that for this, a thorough knowledge of 
the subject is essential, which can only be attained by a patient examination 
of the proportions of the buildings themselves and of their component parts. 

In conclusion I would dwell on the fact of their having been regular rules, 
by which the architects and masons were guided; every part and moulding 
had its particular name and proportion one towards the other, and the fine 
combinations we observe were not the result of chance as too often advanced, 
but of careful design and excellent taste. 

30th March, 1847. M. K. 


496 ' Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [APRiL, 


From the Rey. J. Long forwarding an account of the Temple of 
Triveni near Hooghly, by David Money, Esq. C. 8S. 

The Secretaries submitted on the part of the Committee of Papers— 

A report by Dr. Roer on the proposed publication of the Vedas, favor- 
ably supported by the Oriental Section. The Committee propose that the 
report be adopted—the publication of the Vedas forthwith commenced, 
on the responsibility of the Oriental Section—that Dr. Roer be appoint- 
ed Editor, subject to the condition of his submitting proofs of the work, 
both text and commentary, to the Oriental Section, without whose 
“imprimatur” no portion should be finally sent to press,—further, that 
the Oriental Section be solicited to favour the Society from time to time 
with their opinion as to the progress of the work with the view to the 
subsequent remuneration of Dr. Roer’s labours as editor thereof. 

It was agreed, that the Report and illustrative documents be printed 
and circulated to resident members, and the subject discussed at the 
next meeting. 

The Committee submit two propositions by Capt. Kittoe. 


Military Members, (Subalterns.)\—There are many young officers in the 
service who would be proud to be considered members of our Society, but 
can by no means afford the expense. I propose that Subalterns should be 
admitted upon a reduced (half) monthly subscription, and that they should be 
excused the entrance donation, binding themselves however to pay the same 
upon promotion or upon their succeeding to staff employ, general or regimental, 
after which they will pay the full subseription or retire. 

Iam confident that by such an arrangement lights would be drawn from 
under their bushels, and that many would be induced to exertion, for which 
there is at present no encouragement. 


Mouunt or Bopu Gyan. 

In return for the civility and attention shown to me in iny labours at Bodh 
Gyah, and with a view to,encourage him and his monks to give further aid I 
propose that through me the Society should present the Mohunt with a copy 
of the Mahabharut neatly bound. " 

M. Kirror. 


The first proposition the Committee are not prepared to recommend 
under the present circumstances in which the financial affairs of the 
Society are placed,—( Decided accordingly). 


1847.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 497 


The second proposal they submit for the sanction of the Society.— 
(Agreed unanimously). 

The Committee have received an application from Mr. Hendrie 
for the payment of Co.’s Rs. 100, for sundry lithographs stated to 
have been executed by order of Mr. Blyth. ‘The sketches are good, 
the charge moderate, and the artist cannot afford to suffer loss by his 
labour ; on these grounds the Committee recommend that the bill be 
paid, but they desire to record their opinion of the inexpediency of any 
officer of the Society incurring such expenses without due sanction.— 
(Agreed accordingly). 

The Rev. Dr. Heberlin, a member of the Committee of Papers, 
being very frequently absent from Calcutta, the Committee recommend 
that Baboo Debendernath Tagore, be appointed a member of the Com- 
mittee in Mr. Heeberlin’s place. 

This proposition gave rise to some discussion, Major Marshall insist- 
ing that it amounted to the expulsion of Dr. Heeberlin, while the Vice- 
President and Secretaries declared the sole object of the proposition was 
as stated, to obtain an efficient colleague constantly at the Presidency and 
competent to advise the Society on questions connected with Sanscrit 
literature. The Rev. Mr. Long being referred to, as Dr. Heeberlin’s 
most intimate friend present, said that he was likely to be very 
often absent. The question having been put to the vote was negatived, 
the majority of the members present not voting.* 

Copies were submitted of 4 coloured plates executed for the Journal, 
by Mr. Bennet, in illustration of Mr. Hodgson’s papers on the Ovis 
Ammonoides, and Procapra Picticaudata, at the cost of Rs. 226 for 4 
sets, each of 550 copies : payment of the amount was sanctioned accord- 
ingly. 

The Committee submitted without comment a further claim by Mrs. 
Ballin, for Co.’s Rs. 563, 4, for printing 14 sets of the “ Burnes” draw- 
;ngs, work stated to have been executed many months since and which 
was it appears duly authorized by the regular officers of the Society. 
Bill directed to be paid. The Committee further submitted the cash 
voucners and accounts of the total expenditure on the Burnes’ and Can- 
tor drawings. 


* Dr. Heberlin has since written from Dacca confirming Mr. Long’s statement in 
every respect and requesting to have has name removed from the Committee.— Secs. 


2 


Oo T 


498 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ApRIL, 


Read the annexed extracts from a letter from M. E. Gibelin, Pro- 
cureur du Roi at Pondicherry, communicated by Mr. Piddington. 


Pondichéry, 24 Feévrier, 1847. 


Monsi£uR,—Quoique je n’aie pas l’avantage d’étre connu de vous, vous 
avez mis tant d’obligeance 4 me rendre un serviee qui vous était demandé pour 
moi, que je ne puis tarder davantage 4 vous en adresser tous mes remerct- 
mens. | 

Pour que vous puissiez juger de application que je fais de mes recherches 
sur la législation hindoue, recherches que vous avez aidées si gracieusement 
de votre concours, j’ai l’honneur de vous adresser, par le paquebot 4 vapeur 
de Madras, un éxemplaire d’un premier volume d’Etudes sur le droit hindou, 
volume dont impression vient 4 peme d’étre terminée. Je vous prie de 
Yaccepter comme un témoignage de ma gratitude. 

Dans une introduction que j’ai cru devoir placer en téte, j’ai cherché a 
réunir les principales traditions historiques qui constataient la filiation des 
peuples chez lesquels se rencontraient aussi les concordances les plus nom- 
breuses et les plus frappantes entre les lois qui les gouvernent et les lois des 
Hindous. 

Dans les Etudes qui suivent, j’ai cherché a établir, par la comparaison des 
textes, ces mémes concordances législatives. Mon but a été, par ces rappro- 
chements, ce faire mieux apprécier la loi primitive que nous avons a appliquer 
ici chaque jour, de mieux pénétrer son esprit, et de pouvoir la discuter alors, 
avec cette connaissance plus imtime, comme nous discutons les lois de notre 
Europe, qui ne sont, ainsi que je crois avoir commencé a le démontrer, que 
les traditions de cette méme lot. 

I] y a done dans mon travail, ou du mois c’est ce que je me suis proposé, 
deux objets distincts, ’un d’études historiques, autre d’études pratiques ou 
d’application journaliére., Suis-je parvenu, de prés ou de loin, 4 m’approcher 
du but que je désirais atteimdre ? C’est-ce que je vous prierais de vouloir bien 
examiner. Je m’estimerais heureux si vous aviez la complaisance de vous en 
expliquer franchement avec moi. J’ai encore une route assez longue a par- 
courir ; je puis rectifier des erreurs, modifier des méthodes défectuenses. Aidé 
de l’expérience, des lumiéres d’hommes plus versés que moi dans la connais- 
sance des lois du pays, je puis améliorer mon ceuvre en la terminant. 

Il aurait été bien avantageux pour moi, si j’avais pu m’étayer de tout ce 
que vos grands Jurisconsultes, les William Jones, les Colebrooke, ont laiss¢ 
consigné dans les intéressants recueils de vos Recherches Asiatiques. Peut- 
étre me sera-t-il permis quelque jour, d’aller consulter, 4 Calcutta méme, et 
Jeurs €crits et leurs dignes suecesseurs, dépositaires et continuateurs de leur 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 499 


science. En attendant, .... veuillez agréer l’expression des sentiments de 
haute considération, avec lesquels je suis, 
Monsieur 
Votre trés humble 
et trés obéissant serviteur, 
(Signed) E. G1IBELIN, 
Procureur géneral, Chef de V'administration de la Justice & Pondichéry. 

Mr. Piddington stated in reference to the highly interesting work of Mr. 
Gibelin noticed im the presentation, that while Sub-Secretary he had fur- 
nished that gentleman at his request and expense with copies of some rare 
Sanscrit works. 

Zoological Department. 

Mr. Piddington read the subjoined note, giving 

An account of a Volcanic Island off the Coast of Coromandel, from the 
Annual Register, Vol. 1st, 1758. 

I find the following highly curious paper in the Annual Register, and 
it has undoubtedly escaped the notice of all the writers on Indian and 
on general Geology, though clearly allied to the phcenomena of the 
same kind which have appeared in the western hemisphere as Sabrina 
off the Azores, and Graham’s Island in the Mediterranean, in our own 
days. The time at which it occurred is also remarkable as being the 
epoch which from the great earthquake at Lisbon in 1755, to 1767, 
may be called an earthquake epoch all over the world. 

As connected also with the Volcanic action on the opposite shores 
and islands of the Bay and within the Andaman sea, this last recorded 
eruption on the Indian shore is highly interesting. Capt. Halsted’s 
account (in Vol. X. of the Journal) of the upheavment of Cheduba, 
would place that event in 1749 but we may not improbably suppose 
that his aged informant might have mistaken his age, as natives of the 
east usually do. There is no shoal now near enough to Pondicherry to 
allow us to suppose it the remains of this remarkable Island, and at 
three leagues distant from the coast there 40 or 50 fathoms are found, 
so that it may have easily subsided’ into deep water. The shoal seen 
by H. M.S. Melville (Goris Bank) was in a line joining Pondicherry 
and Chittagong, and a shoal noted on a chart in my possession which 
belonged to the late Mr. Greenlaw, as having been seen by an Ameri- 
can ship, is close on the line joining Pondicherry and Cheduba. Both 
these may have been a partial upheavment in this line. 

3.7 2 


500 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [| APRIL, 


The followmg remarkable account is given by an officer on board a 
French East-Indiaman, in a letter to a friend at the Hague :— 


Jan. 20th, 1757. 

‘Just before we sailed from Pondicherry, fires broke out on the 
surface of the sea three leagues from that place, with the utmost im- 
petuosity, throwing up pumicestones, and other combustibles, and 
forming an island of a league long and of the same breadth, which 
increased to a considerable height, with a volcano, making a most hide- 
ous noise, like thunder, or great guns, and a cloud proceeding from it, 
breaking into small rain of sand instead of water. This prodigy was 
first seen by a ship’s crew belonging to Pondicherry, who thought 
at first it had been a water-spout ; but coming near it, saw a prodigious 
flashing of fire, which smelt of brimstone, and heard a most astonish- 
ing noise ; afterwards a vast quantity of fish was perceived dead on the 
sea, and appeared broiled. Sailing a little further, they met with such 
quantities of pumice stones, that it was hardly possible to make way 
through them ; at the same time they discerned land, but it appeared to 
them as a cloud of fire and smoke on the surface of the sea, and the cloud 
ascending into the air, distilled in showers of rain which brought abnn- 
dance of sand on their ship’s deck ; and being nigh the flashes of fire, 
and hearing the noise, they were under great consternation; but it 
pleased God to send them a little breeze of wind that brought them 
from it. Another ship sailed round it, and they were so becalmed, 
that the ashes proceeding from the vast fire fell on their deck, and they 
were in great danger of being burnt.” 

Mr. Piddington next submitted his usual report on the Museum of 


Economic Geology. 


Museum of Economie Geology. 


We have received from D. Money, Esq, C. S. a brick from Baws of 
which he says :— 

“The brick from Thebes was from one of the oldest ruins on the 
western side of the hill near Madinet Aboo. It had a cartouche 
which could not be decyphered, but which, as well as the ruin from 
which it was taken, was a proof of its great antiquity; some bricks 
near the spot have been found with the cartouche of Thothmes 2d and 
Thothmes 3d on them. It was curious too from its size and weight, 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 501 


and was unburnt and mixed with chipped straw and was most probably 
of the same kind, though it may not have been the same, which the 
Israelites were forced to make. I thought, under such circumstances, it 
might have a slight value in the rooms of the Asiatic Society.” 

I have added to the collection of soils a very rare one here, the brick 
red soil of Bermuda, obtained from the lower part of a box of plants 
sent to me from that Island. 

To the division of building and ornamental materials I have also 
added specimens of the common grey and the yellow Chunar sand- 
stones, and of two kinds of trap, grey and buff-coloured, sent to the 
Auckland Testimonial Committee from Bombay. 


Geological and Mineralogical collections. 


I have several contributions in both departments, but they have un- 
fortunately only come in too late to be examined (which many of the 
specimens require) before reporting on them, and I have other work im 
hand in the laboratory. 

We have received from Colonel Ouseley a specimen of Fibrous Carbo- 
nate of Lime obtained in the district of Nagpore, under the following 
circumstances detailed by him.—“< Near where I was encamped, is a 
village named Rutha, with a hill of considerable height called ‘ Raj- 
poora;’ a land slip took place the rains before last, and a small stream 
emerged from the bottom of the slip. In this, and in a great chasm, 
these stones are found; they are to be had in any quantity.” 

As above stated the specimen is a very common mineral, but its 
matrix is curious as approaching more nearly to an impure chalk than 
any thing we usually meet with in India. I sent a small sample to 
Dr. Cantor, requesting he would examine it for infusorie, but he in- 
forms me it does not contain any. 

I am enabled to fill up a blank in our Mineralogical collection by a 
specimen of Atacamite, which (and this is an instance of how frequently 
valuable specimens are lost in India even in the hands of those who 
know their value), I found amongst a number of refuse and common 
minerals from my own collections. 

We have to acknowledge also from E. Lindstedt, Esq. a fossil fruit 
(siliceous) from the coast of Abyssinia, of which the following is the 


memorandum furnished by Capt. Hodges to him: —‘ The stone [ gave 


502 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [APRIL, 


you was picked up by me on the sea beach of the Island of Massouah, 
on the coast of Abyssinia, in the month of May, 1846.” The specimen 
was exhibited at the last meeting. 


Zoological Department. 


Mr. Blyth read his report on the progress of the Zoological depart-_ 
ment. 

The following are the only donations which I have to bring under notice 
this evening. 

1. From E. O’Ryley, Esq. of Amherst, portions of two skeletons, with the 
skulls of Rhinoceros Sumatrensis ; one of these skulls belonging to the indi- 
vidual, the skin of whose head was lately forwarded by Mr. O’Ryley. 

Also a collection of bird-skins, comprising Crypsirina varians (v. Phreno- 
thrix temia, Horsf.) and other species of interest : and 

A small living Turtle, of the species Chelonia virgata—the edible turtle of 
the Bay of Bengal. 

2. From Capt. Beaumont, a very fine recent specimen, with a Jet -black 
hood, of Larus ichthydetus, Pallas. 

3. From J. McLeod, Esq. A fish, taken near the equator, which is a Mono- 
canthus, apparently the Balistes levis of Shaw. 

Also two species of Phyllosomata, some Acalepha, and other specimens 
obtained on the same occasion. : 

4. From Capt. R. Rollo, 50th Madras N. I., a skin of Anthropsides 
virgo. 

5. J. B. Villy, Esq. A pair of living Doves, of the species Geopelia 
tranquilla, Gould, from Australia. 

6. J.B. Porter, Esq. A dead Pheasant, from Shanghai, the Phasianus 
torquatus, or common ring-necked Pheasant of China. 

The fine collections of mounted specimens upon the table, prepared since the 
last meeting, do not call for any particular remark. 

April 7th, 1847. 

Books received for the Meeting of Wednesday, the 7th April, 1847. 


PRESENTED. 

Meteorological Register for February, 1847.—From THe Surveyor 
GENERAL’S OFFICE. 

Ditto ditto, kept at Kyook Phyoo durmg February, 1847.—By THE 
SUPERINTENDENT OF MARINE. 

The Calcutta Christian Observer for April, 1847.—By tue Epirors. 

La Rhétorique des Nations Musulmanes d’ aprés le traité Persan, intitulé 
Hadayik ul Balagat, par M. Garcin de Tassy.—By Tue AuTHOR. 


1847.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 503 


Le Moniteur des Indes Orientales et Occidentales, No. 9.—By THE 
EDITors. 

Etudes sur le droit civil des Hindous; Recherches de législation comparée 
sur les Lois de l’Inde, les lois L’Athenes et de Rome, et les coutumes des 
Germains ; par EK. Gibelin.—By THe AuTHorR. 

EXCHANGED. 

The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, No. 198. 

Journal Asiatique, quatrieme serie, Vol. VIII. No. 38. 

Calcutta Journal of Natural History, No. 28. 

PURCHASED. 

The Calcutta Review, No. XIII. 

The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Nos. 122—3. 

Journal des Savans, Novembre, 1846. 

- Donations To THe Museum. 
Two Didffla Caps. 
A quiver with two poisoned arrows; and a Knapsack.—By H. Driver, 


Esq. 


For all donations to the Library and Museum as well as contribu- 
tions to the Journal, the thanks of the Society were directed to be 
offered by the Secretaries in the usual form. 


DADDY DADA 


- mite, CF gccaly., 
ar, ae che ay 


d + rae ie cat Sakis nia 4 ime 


Fang dat & a HOTT rds i ai ft iyo 


set we eth 


9 
ree 
Oy 


Re eeaed Fey a “ | Psa 


sa ne 
ees Moiese Tae aac" mo) 

er O Py eke at: ae | ae 

3 al UAT eee a ‘rah Bis 
ee gn Da 

a The Ui sehsicliapdertieo tats ib: 
Big t 2 Gh ca aN pale lglg 4 0 phe he cde Nr 
“WA: thy ees BA cieahaaoal Sages i 2H tere, ate i ira 


: 
i 
. i, 
4 > 
J A ? F : 
< _ 
‘ ‘ ~ 
7 
nf 
PS ao ; 
~ ae P 
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s Sa 


REPORT ON THE ~ VEDAS.” 


ASIATIC SOCIETY. 


Prorvosep PUBLICATION OF THE VEDAS. 


in compliance with a Resolution passed at a general meeting of the 
Asiatic Society held on the 6th April, 1847, the Committee of Pa- 
pers circulate for the information of the resident members, the annexed 
documents, chiefly communicated by the “ Oriental Section’ of the 
Society, relative to the proposed publication of the Vedas. 

The expense of the undertaking is to be defrayed from the grant of 
500 Rs. per mensem, allowed to the Society by the Hon’ble Court of 
Directors, for the promotion of Oriental literature. 

The Committee of Papers propose that the views advanced in Dr. 
Roer’s report, supported by the Oriental Section, be adopted by the 
Society on the responsibility of that section—that Pundits from Benares 
be engaged—that Dr. Roer be appointed Editor, under the supervision of 
the Oriental section, by whom all proof sheets should be examined and 
passed before finally sent to press—lastly, that the section be invited 
to report progress from time to time, and that after six months the 
question be entertained of the manner in which Dr. Roer’s labours may 
be duly remunerated. | 

The above propositions will be discussed at the regular meeting of 


the first Wednesday in May. 
W. B. O'SHAUGHNESSY, 


April 12th, 1847. Sen. Sec. Asiatic Society. 


Asiatic Society of Bengal. 
G. A. Busupy, Esa. 
W. Jackson, Esa. 
Basoo DEBENDERNATH TAGORE. 
Basoo Hurree Mouun Sen. 
GENTLEMEN,—I have the honor to inform you that you are soli- 
cited by the Asiatic Society of Bengal to afford them, through the 
3 Vv 


506 Report on the “ Vedas.” 


Committee of Papers, your yaluable aid, as additional members of 


the section appointed for advice and reference to, on 


“ORIENTAL LITERATURE AND PHILOLOGY.”* 


Of this section Dr. EK. Roer is the Secretary, and he will from time 
to time circulate for your examination all papers and documents upon 
which the Asiatic Society may desire the benefit of your suggestions. 

The members of the several sections being appointed by the Society 
as ex-officio inspectors of the Museums and Library in their several 
departments, your co-operation in this respect is most earnestly invited, 
and any aid or advice you may be pleased to afford for the improve- 
ment or increased efficiency of these branches of the Society’s esta- 
blishment, will be received with the utmost thankfulness and respect. 

In deference to the expressed wishes of the Honourable the Court of 
Directors, reiterated in Mr. Secretary Bushby’s letter, dated the 21st 
November, 1846, the Asiatic Society are desirous of taking immediate 
measures for the publication of the Vedas, with a commentary, the 
expense to be defrayed from the grant from Government of 500 Rs. per 
mensem for ‘Oriental Publications.” Your Secretary, Dr. Roer, will 
be requested to obtain for the Society, at the earliest possible period, 
such suggestions as your section may be pleased to communicate on 
this important subject. 

I have the honor to be, 
Gentlemen, 
Your most Obedt. Servt. 
W. iB. OSHavuGHNEssy, 
Asiatic Society, 16th Feb. 1847. Sen. See. Astatie Society. 


Asiatic Society, the 30th March, 1847. 
GeNTLEMEN,—In compliance with the request expressed in the 
Senior Secretary’s letter of the 16th ult., addressed to the Oriental 
Section of the Society, I have the honour to submit to you, for your 
consideration, a few suggestions respecting the publication of the Ve- 
das, and request the favour of your able advice for the guidance of the 
Society in this important undertaking. 


* Former members :—Major Marshall, since resigned.—The Rey. Dr. Heeberlin 
—The Rev. Mr. Long. 


Report on the “ Vedas.” 507 


Before I can, however, enter upon the proposition of a plan, accord- 
ing to which, I believe, we may commence the printing of the Vedas, 
it is imperative upon me to advert to some of the difficulties, connected 
with this work, as its success depends upon a correct estimate of the 
nature of these difficulties. For this purpose I beg to lay before you 
the accompanying letters, in which these difficulties are represented 
in a very strong light, and seemingly, for the present at least, unsur- 
mountable. I believe, however, that all the impediments may be over- 
come, and as readily now as at any future time. 

The difficulties are chiefly of two kinds, the collection of the Vedas 
and the understanding of the language of the same, as this last is 
essential to the correctness of the text. 

Permit me to solicit your attention first to the former difficulty. 

It has been insisted on in the letters before you, or I should not have 
ventured to detain you so long on this subject, that the language of the 
Vedas is antiquated and obsolete, and for this reason not intelligible 
without the assistance of Pundits who have studied the Vedas at Bena- 
res. I will not urge against this assertion, that some literary under- 
takings have been successfully completed of infinitely greater difficulty 
than the present, for instance to give a near and illustrious example, 
that the characters of the legends on the Bactrian coins, for which there 
was no living interpreter, have been deciphered, that the language of 
these legends, of which there are no other documents, and which has 
long ago died away, has been fully understood by study, perseverance 
and genius ; but I would urge with regard to the Vedas themselves facts 
which cannot be controverted, that parts of these Vedas have been 
published, and with eminent success, without the assistance of any 
Pundit, by European scholars; I mean the Sanhita of the Samaveda, 
by the Rev. Mr. Stephenson, and part of the Sanhita of the Rigveda by 
the iate Professor Rosen in London, the text in both cases accompanied 
by a translation. This success ought then to be a guarantee of our own 
success, if we have only perseverance enough, and use the means at our 
command. 

These means are first, the very works just mentioned, by which the 
study and understanding of the Vedas is considerably facilitated, especi- 
ally by Rosen’s work, which is a mine of information with regard to the 
correct interpretation of the Vedas. In his notes all obsolete forms of 

3 Vv 2 


008 Report on the “ Vedas.” 


the language, occurring in the text, are explained, and reference is made 
to the interpretation of the same by ancient works of the Hindus. 


Secondly, the language of the Vedas in its grammar is explained by 
Panini and other Hmdu authors on Sanscrit grammars, especially by 
Bhattogi Dixita in the Siddhanta Kaumudi, the works of whom are 
partly printed and commented upon. The edition of Panini by Boeth- 
linck will give all the assistance that is required, completely to under- 
stand the grammatical forms peculiar to the Vedas. Further, the 
language of the Vedas with regard to its style is simple, and in this 
respect easy ; there are no unusual combinations of words ; the language 
of the Sanhitas (to which I here only refer, as it is the most difficult 
part) is that of prayer, connected with the daily routine of life. The 
only difficulty consists in the occasional want of the connexion of the 
ideas. This difficulty, however, is not of frequent occurrence, and will 
be removed by an attentive perusal of the whole prayer im which such 


passages occur. 


Thirdly, we have those commentaries of the Vedas which, from the 
most ancient times until now, have been acknowledged as guides in the 
interpretation of the Vedas. These commentaries give a full explanation 
of the peculiar grammatical forms and obsolete words as well as of the 
sense, when it is obscure, or when allusions are made to usages and 
customs which disappeared at a later period, or they supply omissions 
in the text. They are at.the same time not written in the dialect of the 
Vedas, but in a language which every one, acquainted with the Sanscrit, 


can understand. 


On these grounds I consider any objection, raised upon the ancient 
form of the language against the publication of the Vedas, as of no 
weight whatever. By study, application and perseverance, which are 
required for the execution of every important literary undertaking, they 
will assuredly be overcome. 


The second difficulty is to procure a complete copy of the Vedas. 

There is no complete copy of the same in Calcutta, and also not at 
Benares, as appears from a statement of Mr. Muir which I have added 
to this Report. There are, however, considerable portions of them 
here, and still more at Benares, and judging from what we already 
possess we have every reason to expect, that we shall be able to complete 


Report on the ‘‘ Vedas.” 509 


our collections in India, especially, if we follow Raja Radhakant’s advice 
to apply for them in the Dekhan (Tailinga, Dravirha, &c.). 

Should we, however, fail in this, there is, as Colebrooke states in his 
Essay on the Vedas ; and as is alluded to in Raja Radhakant’s letter, a 
complete copy of the Vedas in London, brought there by Col. Polier. 
It is greatly to be lamented, that we have no catalogue of the Vedaic 
MSS. in the Library of the East India House. These collections 
must, however, be extensive, and we may confidently hope, that the 
Directors will open to us the resources of their Library for a publica- 
tion of the Vedas. : 

If we have then grounds to believe that we may obtain a complete 
collection of the Vedas (and also ofa commentary of the same), are we 
to delay the publication of them, until this collection is completed? I 
think not. To wait for this, is to postpone the publication to an indefi- 
nite period, nay, to decline it altogether. The commencement once 
made, we shall obtain assistance from many quarters in Europe as well 
as in India. If we do not commence, the public will withhold their aid 
in the belief, that our present intention of publishing contains as little 
meaning, as it has displayed for the last five years, during which time 
we have received the handsome grant of 500 Rs. per mensem, on the 
part of the Directors, to be expended for this particular purpose. 

I therefore suggest, that the publication of the Vedas should be 
commenced without further delay, provided that the MSS. at our 
command suffice (as I think they do) to print a considerable portion of 
these works together with a commentary, and secondly, that, while 
the printing is going on, we increase and complete our collections here, 
and if necessary, in Europe. 

To make myself understood with regard to the mode of the publica- 
tion of the Vedas that I propose, I must premise a remark on the divi- 
sion of the Vedas. 

There are, as is well known, Four Vedas, each consisting of two parts ; 
the first is called Sanhita, and contains a collection of Mantras, or 
prayers directed to different gods, invocations and incantations. The 
second part of each Veda is called Brahmana, and contains precepts, 
moral maxims, explanation of religious ceremonies, &c. 

I have now obtained in Calcutta four complete MSS. of the San- 
hita of the Rig Veda (the first Veda) and a commentary on the first 


510 Report on the “ Vedas.” 


book of this Sanhita (the whole Sanhita contains 8 books), and on a 
part of the second book. These are precisely those parts with which 
we ought to commence, if we would publish the Vedas in the same 
order, in which they are received by the Hindus, and although it would 
be a hazardous undertaking to publish the text of the Vedas from one 
MS. alone, however correct it may be, four MSS. are quite sufficient 
to prepare a correct text. Rosen had only two MSS., and the com- 
mentary, and the text he has given, are unexceptionable as regards 
correctness. There are no different versions of the Vedas, as there are 
for instance of the Ramayana, they have been handed down to posterity 
with the utmost fidelity, since an alteration of them would appear to be 
a sacrilege, moreover the number of verses is known, nay even that of 
the single words. On these grounds it is evident, that an error, occur- 
ring in the text, can be only an error of the copyist, which can easily 
be rectified by the means of four MSS. I now enumerate these 
MSS. 

1. MS. No. 8—36, A. from the Library of Bishop’s College. This 
is in Debnagri characters, in small leaves, each of them numbered, and 
the number of Slokas, as also their division in lectures and books, most 
carefully marked. It is probably a pretty old copy, as the characters 
differ from those at present in use, and require some attention to read 
them. It is altogether a beautiful MS., and as I have reason to 
believe from a comparison of some parts with Rosen’s Rig Veda, a very 
correct transcript. 

2. MS. No. 433, from the Library of the Asiatic Society, con- 
taining the Sanhita of the Rig Veda complete. It is also in Debnagri 
character, and legible, although not to be compared in this respect 
with the MS. from Bishop’s College. 

3. MS. Nos. 1418—1425, from the Sanserit College, in Debnagri 
character. This is also a complete transcript of the Sanhita of the 
Rig Veda, and in most perfect preservation. It is as good a copy as that 
from Bishop’s College, and in modern character. 

4. MS. No. 1417, from the Sancrit College, containing all the 
Padas or single words of the Rig Veda, it is in modern Debnagri charac- 
ter, and copied with great attention. The Padas or words are separated 
from each other by perpendicular lines, which is of material assistance 
in the interpretation of the text. In Sanscrit many words are often 


Report on the “ Vedas.” 51k 


combined mto one, so that if an error should occur in the combination, 
it is often difficult to find out the incorrect words, while in a succession 
of Padas the error is directly limited to a single word. At the same 
time there is a prejudice in favour of the correctness of the text, as 
great attention is directed to the correctness of each single word by the 
contrivance of the lines of demarcation. 

Beside these MSS. of the whole Sanhita, there is in one more for 
the first book accompanying the commentary of Madhav Acharya. 

We have no complete commentary on this Sanhita in Caleutta. Our 
library possesses the commentary of Madhavacharya on the first book 
of the Sanhita, (No. 17,) and the Library of the Sanscrit College the 
same on a part of the second book (No 1431). p 

After these remarks then I propose, that the whole Sanhita of the 
Rig Veda should be prepared for the press, and printed as far as the 
commentary goes. During this time we shall have opportunity to pro- 
eure the remaining portion of the commentary from Benares. With 
regard to the commentary itself I have further to suggest, that it should 
be abbreviated in such places, where no explanation is necessary, and 
that especially such parts of the commentary which explain passages, 
already before commented upon, should be entirely omitted, as a refer- 
ence to the place, where they are already explained, will be quite suffi- 
cient. 

With the aid of the commentary the text of the Vedas can be easily 
understood, and thus will this most ancient record of the religious tra- 
ditions of the Hindus for the first time be opened to them, but to 
afford access to the work to the European public also, I beg to suggest, 
that the text of the Sanhitas at least, should be accompanied by an 
English translation. There follows no necessity to translate also the 
commentary, as the English text may be understood by itself. With 
regard to the Brahmanas I would not advise a translation, because the 
cost of the work would be considerably increased, and extracts, judici- 
ously selected, will suffice. 

For the collation of the MSS., the copying of the text and pre- 
paring of the work for the press, I propose, that the Society should 
employ, beside their own Pundit, two or three more, under the 
superintendence of the person whom the Society may entrust with the 
publication of the work. At the same time the Society should employ, 


512 Report on the “ Vedas.” 


according to the suggestion of Baboo Debendernath Tagore, a Pundit 
who has made the study of the Vedas, and especially of the Rig Veda, the 
business of his life; such a person must, however, not be allowed to 
exercise any authority, but only to be an assistant, as the word of Pun- 
dits in the difficulties of translation or interpretation cannot be relied 
upon. Ifthe Tattwabolhini Society can lend us the assistance of one 
of the young men, studying now on the part of that Society the Vedas at 
Benares, as is kindly intimated in Baboo Nrependernath’s letter, we 
ought of course gratefully to accept this offer ; but if there is a prospect 
of much delay in the arrival of the person, we ought to write to Bena- 
res at once for a qualified Pundit. 

Should the Oriental Section approve of the propositions laid before 
them, the undertaking might be at once commenced with the collation 
of the MSS., and preparing the text and commentary (as far as we 
possess the latter) for the press. Meanwhile we should look about for 
the remainder of the commentary on Sanhita of the Rig Veda. 

I have not adverted here to the other portions of the Vedas extant in 
Calcutta, because, according to the examination I have as yet made, 
none are sufficiently complete to authorize the printing of them, and 
because I have been anxious to lay before the Society a statement of 
those portions of which the publication might immediately be commen- 
ced. I shall, however, as soon as my time will permit, report on the 
other parts of the Vedas and on the measures we have to take to com- 
plete our collections. 

I have the honor to be, 
Gentlemen, 
Your most Obedt. Servt. 
E. Rorr, 
Co-Secretary, Asiatic Society, Oriental Department. 


To EK. Rorr, Esa. 
Co-Secretary, Asiatic Society, Oriental Department. 
Sir,—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
the 24th ultimo, and in reply thereto to inform you that the Society 
has no complete collections of the Vedas in their library, the only por- 
tions of them which are at present in their possession being those which 


usually go by the name of Dasopanishad, or the ten Upanishads, and 


Report on the “ Vedas.” 513 


another called the Swetwassataro with commentaries by Sankara 
Acharya. The Society however had deputed four young brahmans of 
our country to study all the Vedas in that head-quarters of Vedaic study 
and common resort of Vedaic students in India, Benares. They have 
already proceeded far in their tasks, and I believe whenever they return 
with complete copies of the Vedas, the Society will be glad to lend, 
through their medium assistance to the Asiatic Society in their very 
important and valuable undertaking. 
I have the honor to be, 
Sir, 
Your most Obedt. Servt. 
NREPENDERNAUTH TAGORE, 
. Secretary. 
Calcutta, Tuttobodhinee Subha, 
8th March, 1847. 


To EK. Roer, Esa. 

Co-Secretary, Asiatic Society, Oriental Department. 

Srr,—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 
dated the 24th ultimo, and in reply thereto beg leave to inform you that 
T have no collection of the Vedas or fragments of them in my. posses- 
sion. I believe that complete copies of them are not at all procurable 
in Caleutta, the only portions of them obtainable and studied in Ben- 
gal being the ten Wupunishadas. I am however of opinion that though 
complete collections of the Vedas be obtained, yet on account of errors 
which invariably creep into manuscripts aud the difficulty here expe- 
rienced of getting men who can understand the Vedas, the language in 
which they and even many of their commentaries are couched being 
obscure, antiquated and obsolete, the assistance, in the tended publi- 
cation, of Vedaic Pundits who have studied them regularly as scholars, 
ought to be procured from Benares ; a step which I think is essential to 
the satisfactory execution of that important undertaking of the Asiatic 


Society. 
I have the honor to be, 
Sir, 
Your most Obedt. Servt. 
6th March, 1847. DEBENDERNATH TAGORE. 


roe, 


514 Report on the “ Vedas.” 


To Dr. EK. Rorr, 
Secretary, Oriental Department. 

Sir,—I am exceedingly happy to learn from your kind letter of the 
24th instant, that the Asiatic Society has resolved to publish the Vedas, 
together with a Commentary, as soon as practicable, and shall not fail 
to render my assistance in this important undertaking, as far as it hes 
in my power. Allow me however, to remark that the printing of the 
Vedas is not an easy task, for a correct and complete Manuscript of the 
sacred works are scarcely procurable here, and the Pundits of Bengal 
being not conversant with the Vedas, are hardly competent to correct 
the proof sheets of the same. I therefore, propose that the Society 
would be pleased to apply to Government, to write to their Agents at 
Benares and the Decan, (Tailanga, Dravirha, &c.) for transmission of 
accurate copies of the four Vedas with their commentaries, and also four 
br4hmans well versed in the four Vedas; and then I doubt not, the 
resolution of the Society will be crowned with success. 

On reference to the printed list of Sanscrit Books, which was some 
time ago published by the Asiatic Society, I find that all the Vedas 
and their commentaries are in the library of the Government Sanscrit 
College, and can easily be had by writing to the Secretary of the 
College. 

A writer in the Calcutta Review (No. V. p. 108) states that a com- 
plete copy of the Vedas was carried to England by Colonel Polier, and 
deposited in the British Museum ; I think it would be highly desirable 
to get the loan of this original Manuscript, or in default thereof, a 
transcript of it, for a collation of the different manuscripts that might 
be procured, either in India or Europe, would be of infinite service in 
giving a correct and perfect edition of this most ancient work to be 
found in any language in the world, and that the Asiatic Society of 
Bengal, or the supreme Government of India ought not to grudge any 
expense in effecting this most laudable object. 

I am much obliged by your bringing to my notice, that Mr. Koenig 
has requested the intercession of the Asiatic Society, to procure for him 
one or two copies of my Sanscrit Dictionary, and that he has with great 
liberality, placed at my disposal, a copy of all the Sanscrit works pub- 
lished by him, as well as by your extracting a passage from a letter 
of the most erudite and profound Sanscrit scholar, Professor Lassen, to 


Report on the “ Vedas.” 515 


your address with regard to my Dictionary. I beg to assure you that 
nothing would afford me more satisfaction than to meet the wishes of 
those learned gentlemen. I shall do myself the pleasure of forwarding 
to you after our holidays, two sets of my Lexicon, (of which five 
volumes have already been issued from the press,) and hope you will 
have the goodness to despatch them with my compliments, for the 
acceptance of those two gentlemen. 

I take this opportunity to inform you that Dr. H. H. Wilson wrot: 
to me, that the emperor of Russia had agreed to pay the expense ot’ 
printing a complete edition of the Rig Veda with the commentary of 
Sayana Acharya, and that the first book of the Sanhita of the Rig Veda 
has already been published with an English translation, by a gentleman 
at Bombay. I have also seen the text of the Sama Veda Sanhita, with 
a translation of it, by Dr. Stevenson of Bombay, printed for the Orien- 
tal Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. 

I have the honor to be, 
Sir, 
Your most Obedt. Servt. 
RADHAKANT. 
Caleutia, 29th Feb. 1847. 


To Dr. W. B. O’'SHauGunessy. 
Sen. Sec. Asiatic Society. 

Srr,—With reference to the question whether the Vedas should be 
printed under the superintendence of Pundits of this country or of 
Benares, I beg to state that Pundits from Benares ought to be pre- 
ferred to those of this country, for the following reasons :— 

Ist. The Pundits of Benares make the Vedas the special subject of 
their studies, and are consequently the fittest persons to edit them. 

2nd. The ancient dialect in which the Vedas are composed, is 
extremely difficult and obscure. It is impossible to find two consecu- 
tive lines of a Vedaic Sanhita, in which there is not some obsolete word, 
some antiquated form of construction or some unusual inflexion ; so 
that without a knowledge of the Nirweta and Bhasya, no Pundit how- 
ever well versed in modern Sanscrita literature can understand the San- 
hitas, 

ax 2 


516 Report on the “ Vedas.” 


3rd. The fact of there being no Vedaic school in all Bengal is well 
known, and therefore it cannot be expected that men educated in the 
Sanscrita schools of Bengal shall possess competency for the creditable 
execution of this important undertaking. 

Ath. All the Vedaic MSS. that I have seen are more or less 
defective, and it is impossible to produce a good edition of the work by 
the mere collation of those manuscripts, and by adopting such expres- 
sions out of the different “ readings” that will occur in the various 
manuscripts that may be consulted, and deciding in all other questions 
of doubt, by the impulse of our own taste and predilections without 
consulting those who are best able to pass opinions on the subject. 

5th. There being no difficulty about getting aid from Benares, I 
see no reason why the work should be entrusted to parties, who possess 
no special knowledge of the Vedas in preference to those who have 
devoted their lives to their study. I take this opportunity, further 
most respectfully to suggest that it is desireable that there should be a 
Committee appointed of men well conversant with the Sanscrita litera- 
ture, to superintend the publication and co-operate with the Pundits 
who are to edit the Vedas, in collating and revising the manuscripts, so 
that there be sufficient guarantee for the authenticity, correctness and. 
faithful execution of the task. 

I am, Sir, 
Your most Obedt. Servt. 
RAJSENDRALAL Mirrra, 
alssist. Sec. § Librarian, Asiatic Society. 
April 7th, 1847. 


As four complete manuscripts of the Rigveda Sunghita have been 
procured, I think there exists no objection as to the commencement of 
the undertaking as proposed. With a view however to the satisfactory 
execution of the task, I would propose that no time should be lost in 
taking measures for the purpose of obtaining the services of a Pundit 
thoroughly versed in the Vedaie literature. 

D. N. Tagore. 

Agreed. J; iene: 


Report on the “ Vedas.” 517 


Dr. Roer’s valuable suggestions with those to which he refers in his 
letter, should, I think, be recommended to the Committee of Papers. 
G. A. Bususy. 


I think Dr. Roer’s suggestions, to commence the publication of the 
first Ved with an English Translation, a very good one, and would 
adopt it; probably many [Hindus will read it im an English Translation, 
who could not in the original. It is very desirable to bring these old 
books within the easy reach of men’s minds. 

Wetpy JACKSON. 


Report on the “ Vedas.” 


518 


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JOURNAL 


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JUNE, 1847. 


9 PPOPNP IPOD NSILNLNINNININI NINN NOL NPN INP 


Me 


On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, including Notices of 
Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Se.—by J. R. Logan, Esq. 


[The following paper was sent to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 
January 1846. The delay which has taken place in its publication in 
their Journal, enables the writer to append an extract from a letter to 
Professor Ansted, in which he has given a summary of the results of 
his subsequent observations made in localities more favorable for geolo- 
gical inquiries than those to which his attention had been confined 
when the paper was written. It may save the reader some trouble if 
he be furnished at once with the key to the theoretical discrepancies 
which may be noticed between the paper and the letter. He thinks it 
better to do this, and to leave the former as it stands with all its faults, 
rather than to alter it in conformity with his more matured, but still 
imperfect, views. The geology of every fresh region has to be worked 
out amidst doubts and errors, and a record of the stages through which 
its theory, if at all new, passes in its progress towards complete truth, 
may often serve ultimately as its best demonstration, because it will 
show that it was not hastily adopted, but gradually grew out of a long 
continued and defeated effort to assign to every new phenomenon a 
place in familiar systems. 

The principal result at which the writer had arrived when the paper 
was written was the opinion, advanced hypothetically in it, that the 
southern extremity of the Peninsula, &c., had been ruptured and up- 
raised by subterraneous forces, and that through the rocks so affected 

No. VI. New Series. .3 ¥ 


520 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, (June, 


ferruginous gases, &c., had been emitted. The action of these gases on 
the rocks had, amongst other transformations, produced laterite. The 
paper was written under the impression that the formation of plutonic 
rocks and plutonic action in sedimentary rocks were confined to deep 
subterranean levels (see the writings of Mr. Lyell and other English geo- 
logists). Hence it seemed necessary to believe that the superficial igneous: 
action with which the paper was mainly concerned, was wholly unconnect- 
ed with the granitic and other plutonic rocks of the district ; subsequent 
investigation of some of the best developments of these led to the con- 
viction that the Tartarean theory was inapplicable to them at least, 
The disturbed sedimentary rocks were re-examined free from the bias 
of that theory, and it then appeared, that, while the evidence in favour 
of the metamorphic origin of the laterites, &c., was so strong and 
varied that it might be now recorded as a demonstrated fact ; there were 
no apparent obstacles to the reception of the simple hypothesis that 
they were caused by plutonic agency, and that the plutonie rocks of 
the districts were themselves the agents of the alteration or the effects 
of one and the same hypogene agency. This hypothesis embraces at 
once the whole region of elevation in which Singapore is situated, with 
all the plutonic, voleanic and metamorphic phenomena which it exhi- 
bits. It refers the whole to one cause operating throughout a long 
period of time, and which has not yet entirely ceased to operate, as the 
volcanic emissions of Sumatra and the vibrations of the whole region, 
from time to time, and the thermal sprmgs of Sumatra and the Penin- 
sula, constantly testify to us. This cause is the existence of an internal 
plutonic intumescence, or nucleus, which has slowly swollen up, fractur- 
ing the sedimentary strata, saturating and seaming them with its. 
exhalations, and as it forced itself up beneath them and through the 
gorges and fissures, at once upheaving them and feedimg on their 
substance, till, in many places, it pressed and eat through them to the 
refrigerating surface, and rose, congealing, into the air or sea. It is 
this latter circumstance that distinguishes the region from all those 
which have been observed by European geologists, and it is this singu- 
larly high level which the plutonic reduction has reached that explains 
the extraordinary appearances which the unreduced superficial rocks. 
have so often assumed. ‘The metamorphosed rocks of Europe evinced a 
deep subterranean saturation with plutonic exhalations, and European 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §e. 521 


geologists concluded that plutonic action was necessarily deeply subter- 
raneous. But here, I think, we find a subaerial or subaqueous plu- 
tonic activity ; and where the plutonic level has not reached that of the 
pre-existing rocks, a new kind of metamorphism appropriate to the new 
conditions under which the plutonic exhalations have operated. 

The interest which the discussions respecting laterite have given to 
that rock, tends to invest it with undue importance geologically. The 
ferruginous emissions have affected all rocks indiscriminately, and their 
action on sandstones, grits and conglomerates is as well marked as that 
on clays, marls and shales, although the latter only produces proper 
laterite. Even in the clays, laterite denotes one only of many degrees 
and forms of alteration. To express the origin of these rocks and _ its 
unity, to record the cause of the difficulties which they have presented, 
and to distinguish them from true metamorphic rocks, I would propose, 
avoiding any new technical names, to term them simply the iron-masked 
rocks of the Indo-Australian regions. This term will include the prin- 
cipal or plutonically ferruginated rocks, which, without being either 
completely reduced or metamorphosed, have been either wholly dis- 
guised or partially altered by ferruginous emissions, which have. saturat- 
ed them in the mass,—or only affected them in fissures and seams,— . 
or been interfused between portions of the rocks not actually separated 
by fissures, but intersected by planes of mere disconuity, the sides of 
which have an imperfect cohesion, or having a common border of infe- 
rior density and increased porosity caused either by interruptions in 
the original deposition of the matter of the rock or by unequal stretch- 
ing or incipient cleavage. The term may be also extended, perhaps, to 
those sedimentary beds in which the iron saturation, although coeval 
with the deposit of the other constituents of the rock, has served to 
obseure or conceal their true nature as well as the derivation of the 
beds themselves. These beds appear to have been sometimes formed 
by superficial layers of gravel, &c. being permeated by iron solutions. 
With these must not be confounded the broad bands lying over and 
beside the heads of iron-masked dykes, and which, having been in a 
loose gravelly or fragmentary state at the time when the plutonic emis- 
sions passed through them, became cemented into hard, and occasional- 
ly scoreous, ferruginated conglomerates, &c. and are therefore proper 
plutonically iron-masked rocks. | 

3 xX 2 


522 . On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [JuNE, 


Before entering on a detailed account of the mineralogical features of 
Singapore, it will be convenient to bring into a preliminary paper some 
discussions of a theoretical nature, which, if not thus separated from 
the former, might, in the sequel, occasion frequent interruptions and 
some confusion. A brief sketch of the topography of the Island will 
suffice as a basis for the remarks which follow it. 

The Island is of an irregular figure, when correctly laid down, (for 
the published maps, with the exception of Mr. Thomson’s, are very in- 
correct,) resembling a bat, the head being at Tanjong Sinoko, in the old 
strait, the tail at Tullah Blanga, or rather Blakan Mati,—the western 
wing being fully expanded and the eastern a little retracted. Its great- 
est length from Pulo Campong or Point Macalister, on the west, to Tan- 
jong Changai on the east, i. e. between the tips of the wings, is 21 
miles. Its greatest breadth from T. Sinoko to T. Blangah coast, 1. e. 
from.the head to the tail, is 12 miles. Its superficial extent is roughly 
calculated at 200 square miles. 

The town of Singapore, to start from the best known point, is situ- 
ated at the south-western extremity of a flat alluvial tract, of which the 
greatest length in a straight line near the sea-beach is about 6 miles, and 
- the greatest breadth inland about 23 miles. Three well marked depo- 
sits occur in this flat. A stiff clay of a greyish hue, becoming i some 
places darker and even blackish ; a whitish, greyish or yellowish sand ; 
and a vegetable deposit, consisting, where most recent, of fragments of 
wood or masses of aquatic plants more or less decomposed, and, where 
older, of a soft peaty matter passing into a black mud. The mode in 
which these beds have been deposited will be described hereafter. The 
west side of this plain is marked by low rounded hillocks, separated by 
openings on the same level as the plain. On following these in a north- 
westerly direction, the former are found to be the extremities of dis- 
tinct ranges of hills, and the latter the mouths of valleys between them, 
the principal extending about six miles inland. The largest valley, 
along which there is a public road, terminates a little to the south of a 
group of hills called Bukit Temah, the summit of which is 530 feet 
above the level of the sea, and the highest point in the Island. From 
this group the valley and the stream which draims it borrow their name, 
The coast of Singapore to the 8. W. of this valley also follows a N. 
W. direction. The intervening space is occupied towards the sea by a 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Se. 523 


prominent range of hills rising abruptly to a height of 300 feet at 
Tullah Blanga, which has lately been made the signal station. Towards 
the Bukit Temah valley a broad irregular range of hills is united appa- 
rently with the Tullah Blanga range on the N. W., and as it proceeds 
the 8. E. separates from it and gives room for a broad swampy fiat, 
from which the Singapore River flows. Nearer Town the range bifur- 
cates, one of the forks terminating in Government Hill and the other 
in Mount Sophia. These Hills approach close to each other, but pro- 
ceeding inland the two divisions of the range draw further back, and a 
secondary valley of considerable breadth, and about two miles in length, 
is formed. The range on the N. E. of Bukit Temah valley springs from 
Bukit Temah, and terminates in a low broad sandy elevation which 
slopes almost insensibly till it emerges in the plain. It is in some places 
about 13 miles broad. The configuration of the range,—and most of the 
others have many features in common with it, may be partially ob- 
served in proceeding up the Bukit Temah valley. A succession of low 
hills present their rounded ends stretching into the valley which ex- 
- pands into the concave or sinuous hollows between them. The lateral 
valleys thus formed are of various figures and extent. Many resemble 
a horse shoe or amphitheatre. The upper extremities of most are of _ 
this shape, and similar indentations occur in the course of the more 
protracted, at the necks connecting the different hillocks which form 
their sides. When we strike across the range we are at first confused 
by the number of hillocks and hollows only partially cleared of jungle ; 
but under patient observation they gradually assume a certain order ; 
about the centre of the range the ground is a comparatively elevated 
and broad tract, but very irregular in its configuration. All these irre- 
gularities however, it is probable, have relation to the lateral ranges. 
These are seen to branch off to the north and south in a series of hil- 

locks joined to each other by their sides and sometimes by an elon- 
gated neck. ‘Towards the valley they often bifurcate, one limb some- 
times taking a direction parallel to the range and then sweeping round 
and expanding into one of the broad hillocks whose ends approach the 
public road. The peculiar character of the topography of the country 
arises from the multitude and individual smallness of the hills, and the 
circumstance of the valleys which penetrate between the principal ranges 
and their branches, being, except towards the centres of the ranges, per- 


024 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [June, 


fectly flat, and very little above the level of the sea, so that the winding 
outlines of the bases of the hills are nearly as distinctly marked as if 
they sunk into the level sheet of a lake. We have in fact regular 
mountain ranges in miniature, and so symmetrical with all the apparent 
irregularity, that if the highest or summit lines of the ranges and their 
lateral members were correctly laid down on a map they would present 
no remote resemblance to the section of a tree. Beyond the last men- 
tioned range another long valley occurs.* The stream Balastier which 
flows through it has its rise in Bukit Temah. The further or N. E. 
side of this valley is formed by the Kallang range of hills, the upper ex- 
tremity of which is also connected with Bukit Temah : its lower division 
is penetrated by a long secondary valley. One of its summits rises con- 
siderably above the general level of the hills. Beyond it the valley of 
the Kallang river stretches inland. This valley has not been examined 
up to the top, but it is believed the river rises to the north of Bukit 
Temah in a continuation of that range. All the preceding ranges 
terminate in the plain or to the west of it and the Kallang, Balestier, 
Bukit Temah and Singapore rivers all cross the plain, converge towards 
the town, the three former uniting their waters, and flow through it. 
The next range beyond the Kallang valley is the central range or back- 
bone of the eastern part of the Island. It does not terminate at the 
line where those already described sink into the plain, but continues its 
course to the eastward, sending out lateral ranges, the southern and 
western extremities of which form the boundaries of the plain. This 
range terminates at the Red cliffs. All the hills on the east and N. E. 
sides of the Island appear to be expansions of it. The valleys between 
the lateral ranges are bolder and deeper than those in the ranges first 
described, owing to the hills being generally higher and steeper. This 
_ range is connected with the Bukit Temah range. In its central parts it 
displays broad undulating tracts on a larger scale than the other ranges. 
Amongst the multitude of valleys which its branches include there is 
one on the northern side of some size in which the Serangoon stream 
rises. This valley seems to be a peaty swamp. It passes into a broad 
tract of mangrove jungle where the stream is lost in a creek which opens 
into the old straits of Singapore. Other streams fall into the straits 


* For much information respecting these difficultly accessible valleys I am indebted to 
Mr. Thomson, the able and indefatigable Surveyor to Government for the Straits. 


1847.| ineluding Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §e. 525 


from this range. This principal is the Soongie Saletar, which appears 
to flow through a long valley between a branch of this range and ano- 
ther range proceeding from the Bukit Temah group in a northerly di- 
rection. The western side of the Island consists of several ranges radiat- 
ing apparently from the Bukit Temak group, and penetrated by valleys, 
some of them, such as that of the Kranjee, which flows northward to 
the old strait, and the Joorong, which flows southward to the Salat 
Samboolan, being of considerable length and terminating in broad 
creeks intersecting mangrove swamps. Between some of the ranges 
the only wide flattish tracts in the Island which are not alluvial are 
found. The lower parts of the valleys are mostly swampy, consisting 
of sand, clay and black peaty mud, of the latter there are considerable 
tracts constantly moist and exhibiting an extraordinary rankness of 
vegetation. Looking on one of these swamps covered with tall but 
slender trees, and dense underwood growing up rapidly, and from the 
looseness of the deep bed of black vegetable matter,—the accumulated 
remains of their short-lived predecessors,—destined soon to fall in their 
turn, and considering the deposits of clay and sand which accompany 
and give rise to it, it is impossible to doubt that we see nature repeat- 
ing the precise process by which the materials of most of the ancient 
earboniferous strata were brought together. Towards the sea these 
forest marshes give place to mangrove swamps. An intelligent Chinese 
Gambier planter compares Singapore, not inaptly, if the eastern part 
of the Island be excluded, to an open umbrella, of which Bukit Te- 
mah is the top and the various rivers the ribs. If we suppose the 
Island to have been formed of a somewhat brittle material, and a 
strong blow from beneath to have struck it at Bukit Temah, from which 
cracks radiated in different directions, dividing or bifurcating in their 
progress, a rude idea of the lines of hills may be formed; or if we view 
the Island from west to east our old comparison to the section of a tree 
would serve us best. Bukit Temah and the adjoining hills form the stole 
from which one main trunk, about 12 miles in length, extends to the | 
Red Cliffs with numerous branches. Several smaller trunks rise on the 
south side of the main trunk and extend for about 6 miles ina S. E. 
direction, also sending out a multitude of small branches. To the west 
the roots radiate to different parts of the coast, the tap root being 
about 7 miles long. 


526 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [JuNX, 


The hills of the first and second ranges in the order in which they 
are above noticed consist chiefly of sandstone (fine grained, gritty and 
conglomeritic) and shale strata. Towards the eastern extremities of 
the two next ranges similar rocks are observed. Further on soft clays 
of various hues, but mostly mottled white and red or purplish, passing 
into a soil of different shades of red, yellowish red, and brownish red, 
are observed near the surface, and occasionally protruding blocks of 
sienite and green-stone occur. The hills of the eastern side of the 
Island seem to be principally sandstone with slight traces of shale. 
The western side is also for the most part sandstone and shale. At 
the N. E. extremity granite or sienite appears and it is also seen at 
several places along the N. and N. W. coast. 

The superficial deposits which occur at various places are very remark- 
able. On some hills a red stiff clay resembling laterite is found. On 
many, imbedded in clay of different red and brownish hues, in irregular 
sheets or in thin seams, occur blocks of a ferruginous clay, rock or 
smaller stones and pebbles of various kinds and sizes. These will best be 
described hereafter by selecting particular localities where they abound. 

I now proceed to notice the different hypothesis that have been or 
may be suggested to account for these appearances. Of the alluvial 
plains and valleys which ramify through the Island in all directions I 
need say nothing here, as they, in exposed beds at least, have all or 
nearly all been formed subsequent to the hills and their ‘superjacent 
deposits, and are separated from the latest accessions of matter which 
these received at a period when they formed a multitude of little bays 
and long narrow inlets of the sea. 

The first class of the hypothesis that may be offered in explanation 
of the superficial formations of Singapore, embraces those that contem- 


plate merely the position, external appearance and size of the detached 
rock fragments. 


1.—ALLuviaAL HypotruHesis. 


Of these the first supposes the blocks, gravel, &c. to be the debris 
of older rocks deposited in the sea before the extrusion of the bills. If 
it be conceived that the elevation of the hills above the level of the 
sea was the same act with the protrusion of the strata of which they 


1847.] including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §c. 527 


are composed from their previous horizontal bed to their present inclin- 
ed position, we are met by the fact that the superficial deposits are not 
in layers conformable to these strata, but are spread over their uplifted 
edges. If again, it be supposed that the hills were formed under water, 
and that after the accumulation of the gravel, &c. upon them, the plat- 
form from which they rise was elevated so as to cause them to emerge 
from the sea, we are met by other insuperable objections. Of these it 
is only here necessary to specify one, although looking to single limited 
localities the gravel deposits appear to be regularly disposed like beds 
derived from currents; when we compare one hill with another we 
observe far too much irregularity to allow this idea to be tenable. 


2.—DinuviaL Hyporuesis. 

As we extend our observations this irregularity is seen to be so 
great that we are irresistibly led to conjecture that its causes were dilu- 
vial instead of alluvial. In many places rock fragments of all sizes are 
confusedly intermixed with loose clay or sand, so that if due to aqueous 
action it must have been of an extraordinary and violent nature thus to 
have borne along rapidly masses of matter containing large blocks, and 
deposited them in such confusion, and that often on the summits of 
hills. A continued diluvial action of variable force might also account 
for the large quantities of rounded pebbly-looking stones, and the broad. 
thin beds of smaller gravel-like stones that occur. Closer investigation 
however seems to discover an unanswerable argument against a diluvial 
theory in the fact that the larger rock fragments, and even the gravel, 
differ in different localities, often even when these adjoin each other, 
and that it has always been found that they have a certain correspond- 
ence with, or relation to, the subjacent rocks where these have been 
exposed. No decided boulder or drift has yet been noticed. 

Colonel Low appears to have considered the scoriaceous, ferruginous 
rocks as boulders, but he gives no reason for this opinion. The gravel 
he refers to the concretionary tendency of soils impregnated with iron. 
I need not stop here to remark upon these evidently hastily formed 
views.* 


* IT cannot mention Colonel Low, during so many years of official toil, almost the soli- 
tary votary of science and oriental literature in the Straits Settlements, without expressing 
the hope that he will not long withhold from this Journal the fruits of his present 
‘* learned leisure.” 


eZ 


428 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, ([JuNE, 


3.—DecomposiTion or Rocks 1n Situ. 

This, which is the hypothesis that next most naturally arises, would 
embrace many of the facts that are inconsistent with the sedimentary 
and diluvial suppositions, such as the local character of the rock frag- 
ments. The outcrops of the strata, which are generally highly inclined, 
would under meteoric influence, down to a certain line of depth which 
would descend with the denudation of the surface, suffer different changes 
according to the nature of the rock. The harder sandstones and shales 
would, split and break down into irregular fragments. The softer 
sandstones, clays and shales,—and of the latter especially the finely 
laminated beds,—would, under the combined chemical and mechani- 
cal influences of the air, rain, rapid transitions of temperature, &c., 
lose their distinctive original characters and gradually become uniform 
masses of sandy or clayey soils. Every heavy fall of rain would wash 
away the more superficial particles. According to the declination of 
the sides of the hills, fragments of rock of different sizes would be 
carried down by the pressure of water-moved soil and gravelly frag- 
ments. Where the hills were steep, larger blocks, from the gradual 
loosening of their beds, would descend to lower levels by their own 
gravity assisted by similar pressure from above. The summits and 
ridges of the hills would be most exposed to the action of sun and rain, 
but generally least so to the denuding power of gravity. Where the soil 
was loose sand, or where there were narrow summits, the process of 
denudation would be more active than elsewhere. The soil as it was 
formed would disappear, and only fragments of rock be left where the 
latter was of a nature to yield with difficulty, slowly and superficially 
to decomposition. Where the fragments pulverized more quickly, 
some soil would generally be found, always drawing additions from the 
rocks, but always a prey to the rains. 

These considerations certainly explain the present appearance of many 
of the hills, and in every locality phenomena occur evidently due to 
the forces of which I have been writing. Ridges and summits are 
often found consisting almost entirely of rock fragments, and it might 
seem that these forces alone would be adequate causes for their occur- 
rence. But on hills with extensive flattish summits, beds of fragments, 
sometimes large,—sometimes of all sizes mixed—sometimes uniformly 
small and gravel-like, lying under or in the soil at various depths, from 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §c. 529 


an inch to many feet, below the surface, are frequently discovered by 
sections for roads and pits for planting spice trees, &c. It is obvious 
that the hypothesis which I am now considering will not explain such 
cases. 

There is another phenomenon of frequent occurrence connected with 
the position of fragmentary rocks which this hypothesis ought to 
include if it be made the foundation of any general theory. In sections 
across strata they are almost invariably seen to be more or less curved 
as they approach the surface. Before reaching it however they some- 
times gradually, but often abruptly, lose their compact form and become 
masses of fragments. In some cases these are almost insensibly min- 
gled with the superincumbent soil till all trace of the stratum disap- 
pears. But it is not uncommon to see the curve pass into a line more 
or less horizontal, and even bent downwards, and the fragments streaming 
away as it were in a layer of which the direction seems to have no 
relation to the parent stratum, but which generally possesses or 
approaches to parellelism with the plane of the surface. It is true that 
of some of these cases the hypothesis which we are at present pursuing 
might seem to afford a solution. Thus suppose a thin layer of hard 
sandstone to rest on a bed of soft sandy clay or unlaminated shale, both 
inclined and having their outcrop on the slope of a hill, a certain depth 
from the surface of the slope would be subject to the action of meteoric 
forces which would cause the sandstone to break up into fragments 
and the sandy clay to become loose and open. The sandstone rubble, 
if heavy, might possibly tend to descend or settle in a perpendicular 
line through the upper pulverulent to the lower and more compact soil, 
and, at all events, as the soil below it was carried away, the rubble would 
descend along the line of the slope, the heavier fragments remaining 
at and near the point of outcrop, those of medium size streaming 
further down the slope, and the smallest borne away with the fine _ 
sand and clay to lower levels ;—the possibility of the existence of such 
lines of rubble, their breadth down the slope from the line of outcrop, 
and the quantity and size of the fragments, being always determined 
by the texture of the recipient bed of clay or sand, and the declivity 
of the hill. Where the slope of the hill consisted of a succession of 
similar layers and beds, the lower layers of rubble would, in course of 
time and in favourable positions, become covered with soil brought 

322 


530  ° On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [Junx; 


down from above. There are undoubtedly cases which, if taken by 
themselves, this explanation will satisfy. But when we seek to convert 
this hypothesis into a general rule we are at once met by numerous 
discordant appearances. Thus, of the extensive layers of rubble or 
gravel-like fragments beneath a thick bed of clay which, as before 
mentioned, are found on broad even summits of hills and ridges, there 
are many where the clay is too compact and aluminous or the rubble 
too fine, for the latter to have descended from the surface of the former, 
and where there are no adjacent higher levels from which the former 
could have been degraded and superimposed upon the latter. There 
are other allied cases too which simple atmospherical causes will not 
account for and which bring us to the next hypothesis—that of 


4.— EARTHQUAKES. 


The instances alluded to are where the heads of the strata are not 
merely converted into rubble and bent in the line of slope, but where 
they are in zigzag, crooked, or sinuous lines ;—where adjacent layers 
are differently and irregularly deflected out of their planes ; where the 
rubble is here in large pieces lying in the direction of the proper plane 
or of a regular curve from it, and there shattered into a confused mass of 
small fragments, sometimes much thicker and sometimes much thinner 
than the unaltered layer itself ;—or where fragments of one layer are 
intermixed with those of an adjacent one, detached pieces of a sandstone 
layer for instance imbedded in a layer of clay above it, or portions of 
both layers confusedly mingled till all trace of their lmes of demarca- 
tion is lost. 

It is clear that no ordinary mechanical operations caused by atmo- 
spherical forces could have produced such results, and that violent con- 
vulsive movements of the earth have left these records. In the slight 
earthquakes felt at Penang in 1843 it was remarked that the residents 
| on the hills described their effects differently from the residents on the 
plain, or in language more exaggerated. In Belmont-house, which is 
situated an the summit of a peaked hill rising freely out of the Pentland 
chain, the tremor was particularly strong. Upon general mechanical 
principles it is evident that the shocks will be most severely felt where- 
ver the rocks acted on are freest. Through a dense homogeneous mass 
extending uniformly in all directions equable undulations and vibrations 


1847.] ineluding Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Sc. 531 


may pass without disturbing the internal arrangement, because the 
motive force will meet with an equal resistance throughout. But where 
the mass acted on suddenly changes from a dense to a lighter rock, 
fractures and other internal disturbances will follow according to the 
intensity of the force, and where the mass of rocks is met externally by 
the rare elastic mass of the atmosphere, the resistance in that direction 
being removed per saltum, the general centrifugal tendency which will 
be impressed by the nether forces, even when their proper direction 
is more horizontal than vertical, will cause the upper rock to a certain 
depth to be fractured, loosened and expanded, the external fragments 
and particles being perhaps quite free and even projected. In this 
condition the whole superficial mass will readily yield to continuing 
vibratory action, and any or all of the phenomena above described may 
be the result. It is a further argument in favour of mechanical con- 
vulsions of considerable violence and irregularity, that although the 
general dip of the strata of Singapore be from westerly to easterly, cases 
, are found of a hill resting on the same apparent base with an adjoin- 
ing one where the general rule operates, having its strata inclined from 
east to west, and even in the same hill particular sides or outlying 
ridges or spurs, present deviations both in the direction and in the 
angle of the dip. 3 


5.—VoLcanic ACTION. 


_ Hitherto we have remarked no phenomena that may not be referred to 
| the ordinary mechanical or chemical forces acting at the surface of the 
earth, or to critical mechanical disturbances. But I have now to notice 
a large and varied class of facts which require different forces to be 
introduced. These facts are so numerous, so constant in their occur- 
rence over every part of the Island which is open to examination, and — 
not less than elsewhere in those parts from which the observations of 
writers on the geology or mineralogy of Singapore have been drawn, : 
that it is difficult to conceive through what fatality they have hitherto, 
for the most part, escaped notice or been passed over as unimportant. 
The most obvious of these facts are dykes and veins of igneous rocks, 

masses in situ and scattered fragments of rocks, such as sandstone, 

clays, shales, granite, &c, altered by the action of fire ; rocks in veins and 
joints often highly indurated, whereby sandstone has acquired sometimes 

a cellular structure, and at other times externally a honey-combed 


532 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore,  [Junx, 


appearance; congeries of curved, zigzag and radiating veins in sand- 
stone, clays and shales, filled with crystallizations, and both from their 
own appearance and the alteration in the rock in which they are found 
showing chemical or electrical action of a volcanic nature ; the presence 
of sulphur accompanying anthracite in shales denigrated and rendered 
fuliginous by fire; the slaggy appearance of many rocks and fragments 
which are often covered externally by a shining black, bluish-black, 
or dull iridescent varnish or glaze; thescoreous appearance of others, 
many being mere cinders ; the abundant presence of oxides of iron, and 
particularly their intensity in those places where the other evidences of 
igneous action are most marked, and their absence where these are 
entirely wanting. It is impossible to refer these facts and others of 
an analogous character, which will be mentioned in a future paper in the 
description of particular localities, to any but volcanic causes. The 
reddish, reddish-brown and reddish-black rocks which are found so 
abundantly have been noticed by Lieutenant Newbold, Colonel Low and 
others. The general name of laterite has been sometimes applied to 
them. Colonel Low uses the terms “iron clay,” ‘ iron stone” and 
“iron ore.” The red soils have been in like manner called laterite or 
iron soils. Both terms appear to be objectionable. Laterite is a parti- 
cular species of ferruginous clay which indurates on exposure to the 
atmosphere like many other rocks : it ought to be restricted to the clay 
to which it was assigned by Dr. Hamilton, and not indiscriminately 
applied to every new rock strongly marked by oxides of iron. With 
respect to the term iron clay or clay iron stone, it has not yet been 
shown that any of the proper argillaceous iron ores, into the composition 
of which carbonic acid enters so largely, are found in Singapore. If 
there are any they have been disguised and changed by heat, decompos- 
ing into peroxides. The fact however is that these so called laterites 
and iron ores, externally as to colour and form differing little if at all, 
prove often on examination to be only fragments of the common strati- 
fied rocks; sometimes calcined, sometimes indurated, and sometimes 
partially fused by heat. We cannot therefore resort to a prevalence 
either of laterite or iron ores to explain the geology of the Island, and 
are by the rocks, which have been so designated, led back to voleanic 
causes,* 


* Laterite.—Many of the clayey hills here appear tome to be decomposed sienite, some- 
times unaltered by supervening volcanic action, but generally partaking in the metamor- 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Sc. 533 


Such a comparatively small portion of Singapore has yet in any 
way been laid bare, and of the accessible parts, with certain ex- 
ceptions, so little is open to inspection save the mere surface, that had 
my examination of the most favourable localities of the latter been much 
more minute and careful than it has been, I should still have hesitated 
to combine the results into any general hypothesis. But as such an 
hypothesis has been forced upon me while following up my inquiries, 
and no facts have hitherto been noticed to which it is irreconcileable, 
I shall endeavour to explain it, leaving to future observations to build 
it into a theory, or reject it as a fancy. And as I shall proceed in sub- 
sequent papers to furnish detailed accounts of different localities, the 
reader will be enabled to draw his own conclusions. 

The general direction of the elevatory force to which the hills ot 
Singapore and the neighbouring Islands owe their origin, was from W. 
by 8S. to E. by N. since their dip is generally in or near that direction. 
Although the undulations or upheavings had this general tendency, the 
causes to which they were due must have been of a somewhat irregular 


phism which the matter of most of the elevated land has suffered from that cause. May I 
venture to suggest that the hypothesis which is developed in this paper for Singapore might, 
if applied to the laterite of India, perhaps explain its origin, and, in doing so, to a certain 
extent also reconcile the conflicting opinions that have been maintained regarding it. 
All that I have read of the great laterite formations of the south of India, and which ex- 
tend to the heart of Bengal, where they are described by Dr. Buchanan, leads to the 
conclusion that they do not consist of purely volcanic, sedimentary or decomposed matter, 
but what I have termed semi-voleanic. The same formation is found at Malacea and 
analogous deposits at Singapore, and both inseparably associated and evidently contem- 
poraneous with altered rocks of the kind previously noticed. If we conceive an area 
with trap, granite, sandstone, shale, &c. exposed at the surface (in the atmosphere or in 
the sea) and partly decomposed or disintegrated, to be subjected to a peculiar species of 
minor volcanic action like that which is described in this paper (the distinctive phenome- 
non probably of one and the same geological epoch) the result would be that, with the 
occasional exception of matter ejected from no great depth, and some dykes and veins, 
the previous soft surface rocks would be merely altered or metamorphosed by heat and 
impregnated with iron, derived perhaps from the basaltic and other ferriferous rocks 
through which the discharged steam, gases, and water had passed in their ascent. Whe- 
ther the action took place under or above the sea would be determined by the presence 
or absence of the ordinary marks of oceanic denudation. 

When clays strongly ferruginous, and soft from saturation with water, are dried, the 
iron previously held in solution by the water is deposited between the particles and cements 
them into a hard compact rock, Hence the induration of laterite clays on exposure to 
the atmosphere. 


534 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [JuNE, 


nature, at one time producing a superficial effect, either uniform in its 
character, or small in degree, and at another time increasing in violence, 
and at particular points causing convulsive elevations of the rocks in 
the form of hills, frequently in undulating ridges and chains, the linear 
directions of which were, it may be, determined by a pre-imposed ten- 
_ dency to fracture, as will be noticed in the sequel. This force was 
apparently of a volcanic, or what, to distinguish it from concentrated 
well developed volcanic action, may be called a semi-volcanic nature, 
producing great heat at particular places, which sometimes merely 
indurated or calcined the softer strata and reddened the superjacent 
soil, but often in steam or gases, and occasionally in mud or semi-fused 
rock burst through them, or found a vent in fissures caused by ruptures 
during the process of elevation. When the heat was most intense, 
fused rocks or semi-fused fragments were cast up through these vents. 
As its intensity decreased fragments less altered and masses of clay and 
sand were ejected. The volcanic steam, gases, or fluids were charged 
with iron which left strong marks of its presence wherever these were 
most active, rendering most of the fused and semi-fused rocks, in dykes 
or ejected above the surface, highly ferruginous and impregnating all 
the softer adjacent rocks. 

In some places the force, although of unusual violence, was at the 
surface chiefly mechanical, rending solid sandstones and tossing up 
and mingling the fragments with masses of soft clays and shales. 
Thus on some parts of government hill and the adjoining hill (Mt. 
Sophia) large angular blocks of solid sandstone, some from 600 to 800 
cubic feet in bulk, are found at the surface and at various depths be- 
neath it in aconfused mass of clays and shales. In the same hills howe- 
ver there were also subsequently formed volcanic fissures, through which 
torrified rocks were ejected into the air and strewed over the surface so 
asin some places to form a thick bed over the disrupted sandstone, &c. 

This extreme degree of local mechanical violence unaccompanied by 
simultaneous igneous action reaching the surface, is, however, rare, and 
may have been in some measure caused by a greater thickness and 
compactness in the resisting rock. But in general the upheaving of 
the hills has been attended with a violent agitation or tremor, producing 
the phenomena alluded to in a former page as due to concussion. 

From what has been said it will be seen that the volcanic forces were 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Sc. 535 


not concentrated at one or two points, and of comparatively great 
power, so as to form regular craters of eruption er to elevate rocks to 
a great height, but that they extended over a considerable area, and 
that their intensity and mode of action varied greatly at different places. 

Amongst the most commen volcanic products is one, small in size, 
and varying in its character from common indurated argillaceous and 
lithomargic, to porcellanous and jaspidious, which occurs in very singular 
forms, vermicular, pseudo corraloidal, columnar,* and frequently resem- 
bling pieces of ginger root, externally smooth, granulated, corrugated, 
reticularly fibrous, &c. These are the compact forms, but there often 
occur vesicular, or rather rudely ramose cavities descending between 
the short thick irregular branches towards the centre, the branches 
being themselves also sometimes perforated. 

Another product is a small smooth faintly shining black stone like a 

fine gravel. 
_ At other places a gravel similar in shape but with a brownish or 
chestnut-coloured coat or enamel! occurs. These latter products may 
readily be mistaken for water worn gravel, especially as they often 
eccur in broad thin beds, but on closer examination it is clear they are 
of volcanic origin. 

All the various forms of ejected substances met with are due, I con- 
ceive, in some degree to differences in the original mineral ingredients 
of the rocks, but chiefly to the inequality of torrefaction, and the 
circumstance of the heated, fused or semi-fused substances cooling in 
the air or in mud or loose sand or clay. 

At an early stage in my inquiries I was led to think that the causes 
of the eruptions were in part what have been called pseudo-volcanic, 
and if coal shail be discovered it will then become a question whether 
many of the geological phenomena of Singapore are not due to voleanic 
action giving rise to and accompanying the conflagration of coal beds. 
This would account for the paucity of proper volcanic products at the 
surface, and the abundance of merely altered fragments agreeing in 


* Amongst the common large slags which are generally of irregular rounded shapes, 
J have occasionally seen one agreeing in form with those small columnar stones and 
externally rugose and roughly fibrous. In fact one may say it is the same as one magnified 
in bulk from a few cubic inches to 10 or 15 cubie feet, and with all its characters rendered 
coarse IN proportion. 


4A 


536 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, |{JUNE, 


character with the existing superficial strata, and of slaggy and scoreous 
rocks of which the materials, with the exception of the oxides of iron, 
might have been derived from similar strata at no great depth. The 
iron might, on this supposition, have been supplied by beds of ore 
occurring amongst the carboniferous rocks. 

At present this view is imadmissable; and it would still remain so 
even if no other hypothesis derived from analogy were probable. But 
there have been many volcanoes without streams of lava, from which 
earth and altered rocks, gases, steam, water, or mud have been ejected, 
and there are abundant marks of igneous action throughout the series 
of stratified rocks, proving how frequently volcanic forces have operated 
from beneath, often without reaching the surface at all, and at other 
times producing mechanical, igneous, or electrical changes in the super- 
ficial rocks, unaccompanied by the more marked phenomena of proper 
voleanoes. 

But the absence of such products in Smgapore is not universal, nor 
are there wanting proofs of the direct connection of the superficial 
igneous action with a great nether fountain of voleanic power. It is 
clear that the action reached below the stratified rocks, for in some of 
the hills near town I have discovered fragments of unaltered sienite, 
and on one, a large block of sienite passing into basalt, which may 
either be an ejected fragment, or the protruded summit of a continuous 
mass, is now being quarried by Chinese. In the Bukit Temah group 
solid masses of sienite are exposed, and appear to compose a large part 
of one of the hills. At some places I found it passing into basalt. 
That the elevation of the sienite and basalt was contemporaneous with 
the production of the ordinary volcanic or igneous phenomena of 
Singapore (if the basalt itself was not also then formed) is, to say the 
least, highly probable. Not only the sides in general, but the summits 
of the hill, consist of a thick mass of soft ferrugmous clay or mould, 
holding large quantities of the common igneous rocks found elsewhere, 
but often bearing marks of a more intense igneous action. Thus on 
the same side of the hill where the sienite and basalt are laid bare I 
found, m contact with soft sandstone, a piece of compact, dull, igneous 
rock jof a Jight yellowish brown colour, with veins of a violet colour 
and vesicles whose sides were similar. At the plane of contact, the 
rock changed into a dark green translucent-glass, which included some 


1847.| «including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Sc. 537 


small opaque white specks. Within the glass, the igneous rock, for a 
narrow space, was finely vesicular, and violet-coloured like veins and 
some grains of the sandstone were scattered through this band. The 
opaque spots in the glass were evidently included grains of sand semi- 
fused at their edges. This specimen is identical in character with some 
products of proper volcanoes. In the slopes to the west of Bukit 
Temah, which are covered with thick beds of clays and sands, included 
layers, composed of fragments of torrified granite, occur. 

Many of the islands and rocks near Singapore exhibit most decisive 
proofs of voleanic convulsions. Thus in a reef of sandstone rocks 
lymg between the Island of Blakan Mati and Pulo Sikijang, a black 
ferruginous rock has been obtruded as a lava through seams and fissures 
in the sandstone, and at some places has spread over that rock and 
boiled up above it, assuming fantastic shapes, the sandstone is altered 
by heat in the same manner as the rock is often seen to be in Singa- 
pore.* Basalt and greenstone are found on Pulo Ooban, which lies 
close to the north-east coast of Singapore. Similar rocks of various 
structure and character, compact, vesicular, &c. with claystone, porphy- 
ries and other volcanic minerals, are brought from Islands in the neigh- 
bourhood to Singapore to be used for the foundations of houses. The 
original production of the latter rocks must of course be referred to 
an epoch long anterior to that of the former, which undoubtedly cor- 
responds with that of the Singapore semi-volcanic rocks. 

We are therefore, I think, justified in considering Singapore and the 
neighbouring Islands to have been the seat of volcanic convulsions 
spread over a considerable area, if nowhere of great intensity. There 
are many reasons, but not strictly local, to believe that their date was 
in a late era of geological time. The subject however is a difficult one, 
and there is not room for its full discussion in this paper. I may here 
only mention amongst the local facts tending to the above conclusion, 
the softness of some of the rocks which have not been altered by vol- — 
canic action, but have been elevated and greatly stretched or drawn out, 
contorted or compressed in the process ; the absence of any superficial 
changes not due to atmospherical causes since the time of their eleva- 


* Mr. Thomson describes to me an analogous injection of a reddish-black substance, 
lateritic in its appearance, into the fissures of a block of granite ou the north coast of 
Buitang. This I shall describe on procuring a specimea, if I do not visit the locality, 

4a2 


038 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [{June, 


tion, and the very moderate effects of these causes ; the apparent con- 
tinuity of some of the hill beds of sand and clay in adjacent hollows, 
having a ferrugiuous and torrified appearance in the former, while in 
the latter they are not distinguishable from soft modern alluvinm ; and 
lastly, some remarkable cases of the elevation of soft alluvial and vege- 
table deposits agreeing im their character with beds now forming in the 
Island or along its shores.* Unfortunately the non-observation hitherto 
of any organic remains, while it is perhaps a reason for assigning a 
higher antiquity to the soft rocks above mentioned than their general 
appearance seems to claim, renders it very difficult to compare them 
with the observations of European Geologists, or to ascertain whether 
they can be made to occupy any determinate place in their systems. 
This last enquiry is however of the least importance for the present, 
and if entered upon before the phenomena of this locality, (so far 
removed from any of which the geology is, in any considerable measure, 
understood,) have been minutely and faithfully studied by themselves, 
is more likely to mislead than to aid research.. I may state however 
that, in the present state of our knowledge, the only European system 
with which the rocks of Singapore, notwithstanding the apparently 
recent origin of some of them, can he mineralogically compared, is the 
New Red standstone. The sandstones, clays, marls, (noncalcareous) 
and shales, in many respects resemble the same rocks of that system. 
The rareness, if not the absence, of fossils, is a striking circumstance, 
and even if the two formations be remote in time from each other (for 
no chronological conclusion can be drawn from merely lithological cha- 
racters), points to the existence of anologous conditions during the 
periods of their respective accumulation. 

If we now recur to the present superficial igneous and ferruginous 
deposits of Singapore, the only remaining question under our hypo- 
thesis would be, whether their superposition on the hills (to which they 
are confined) took place before or after the emergence of the latter from 
the sea. In other words, was the present configuration of the Island 


* It is to be remarked however, that in a climate like that of Singapore, clay rocks 
and aluminous sandstones at or near the surface, unless highly indurated, are lable to 
become soft. The age of the elevation of the Island will be more fully considered in the 
paper on the straits, in connection with several instances of recent elevation occurrme 
along its borders where the evidence is of a more satisfactory nature, being derived from 
organic remains, 


1847.] «neluding Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Se. 039 


assumed under the level of the sea, and then the whole tract of land 
from which the hills spring, elevated by one movement, or is it more 
probable that before the hills were upraised the general level of the 
land was the same or nearly the same as it now is, and the hills con- 
sequently obtruded from that level in whole or in part in the air?) The 
action of the waters of the sea in spreading out the materials brought 
to the surface by volcanic forces might seem an obvious explanation of 
some of the facts formerly noticed. But if this cause be admitted at 
all, its operation must have been transient and limited, otherwise the 
surface accumulations on the different hills and parts of the same hill 
would not have retained their striking local characters.* Ifthe agency 
of the sea is to be admitted, the most probable hypothesis, with our pre- 
sent information, would be, that when the process, which dislocated and 
pushed up the strata in different places into hills, began to operate, the 
general level of the sea bed was much lower than it now is, and that the 
same action caused its general elevation. In this way the surfaces of the 
hills may have emerged so gradually from beneath the sea as to admit 
of a partial action of its waters on their summits and sides during and 
subsequent to the eruptions of matter, and yet not so slowly as to give 
time for such extensive denudation as to obliterate the local peculiarities 
of the ejected substances. My own opinion at present is, that all the 
phenomena may be accounted for by purely volcanic, succeeded by 
ordinary meteoric causes. At one time rock fragments and semi-fused 
matter would be voided, heaped up at particular places, or ejected into 
the air and showered over the surface. At another time, when the heat 
was less intense or when steam or gases, not ignifluous or melted matter, 
burst out, masses of soft clays and sandstone might be disembowelled 
and spread over the bed of fragments. At other places the rocks might 
be broken and pulverized in situ, and receive a considerable vertical 
pulsion so as transiently to form an incoherent and agitated mass, espe- 
cially towards the surface, but without the fragments or sand being 
freely projected into the air.t 


* See ante page 527, Diluvial hypothesis. 

+ Whether the mechanical action by which the hills were upraised long preceded, 
or was accompanied or soon followed by, semi-voleanic action in the most intense degree 
which it here attained, or rather whether the semi-volcanic emissions and eruptions 
continued during a long period to find vent through the fissures formed when the hills 
were elevated, is a question that must lie over for the present. It is probable that they 


240 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [JuNu, 


One of the most common features of the hills is the occurrence of a 
bed of igneous stones,—at one place large (30 to 60 cubic feet) slagey 
and often scoreous or amygdaloidal, and gradually but irregularly 
diminishing in size until they become a coarse and then a fine eravel, 
in some places dwindling into a seam of minute grains. The beds are 
of various thickness,—from three or more feet to a few lines,—and so, 
often, is the same bed at different places. They may consist of a uni- 
form aggregate of stones, or of stones mingled with loose clay, sand, &c. 
Over this deposit there is generally a bed of soft clay, or sandy clay. 
Sometimes more than one bed of gravel occurs. Layers of unaltered 
angular fragments are occasionally, but rarely, found beneath these beds. 
Layers of the small porcellanous, jaspideous, and varnished stones be- 
fore noticed, and of large grains of quartz, are more common. All 
these layers sometimes appear in the same section, but this seldom 
happens. The localities where the large scoriform rocks abound are 
often at or near the summits of hills, or where thick dykes of igneous 
rock come to the surface, and probably in every case they mark the 
places where the largest fissures or vents were opened. Where they are 
most abundant they appear at the surface, and that not only in spots 
exposed to denudating influences, but in flattish and gently sloping 
tracts. There appears in many cases to be a connection between the 
direction of the dykes and fissures, and that of the hills or their spurs. 
Where good sections of the summits of dykes have been obtained 
fragments of the rock of which they are composed, not angular but 
scoriform, can generally be traced as a horizontal layer on the surface, 
or disposed beneath a bed of clay, &c. to a considerable distance from the 
head of the dyke. When the dyke is vertical these stones are accu- 
mulated over and strewed on both sides of it. When it is inclined 
they are spread out in the direction towards which the inelination is. 
Two dykes adjoining each other at the surface have sometimes beds of 
scoriz diverging from them in opposite directions, owing to their dips 
being opposed. The above and other observable facts are all, I think, 
explicable by the species of volcanic action which I have suggested, 
susceptible as it is, of various modifications, without resorting to oceanic 
agency. «At all events no fact has yet come under my notice unequi- 


originated on, but lasted, or were from time to time repeated, for sometime after the 


elevation of the hills, 


1847.| imeluding Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Sc. 541 


vocally attesting the abrading, sorting, or transporting operation of a 
large body of water, or which could not be referred to some known form 
of voleanic agency. It must also be borne in mind that the convulsive 
mechanical action which enters so largely into the general hypothesis, 
would be most powerful in shattering compact and loosening soft rocks, 
when the stratified masses were ruptured and raised into highly in- 
clined, vertical or reversed positions. In such cases the exposed basset 
edges, in their fragmentary or pulverized state, and before they were 
protected by any vegetation, would be more acted on by meteoric causes 
than at present. 

The system of hills with their dykes and veins affords an interesting 
field for the application of the principles of mechanical science. But it 
would be premature to enter on this subject before the country is 
better opened up, as it will soon be by the lines of road now in pro- 
gress. There can be little doubt however that the directions of the 
hills agree with the ramifications of fissures which in those places where 
the intensity of the elevatory force caused their extension to the sur- 
face, have formed vents through which the superficial voleanic deposits 
were expelled. The principal ranges, we have seen, are nearly parallel 
and have directions approximating to N. W. and 8S. E. The lateral 
hills are placed on lines at right angles to these, and the secondary 
lateral hills again on lines parallel to the principal ranges. 

My remarks have been hitherto confined to facts entirely local, and 
inferences or hypothesis strictly deduced from, or applicable to them. 
Before concluding this paper, however, let us extend the limits of our 
observations, and see whether a wider geological area presents pheno- 
mena repugnant to the large influence which has been assigned to volca- 
nic causes. 

That the movements which elevated the central mountains of the 
Malayan Peninsula had an intimate relation with those that elevated 
the mountains of Sumatra, seems evident, whether we regard the hypo- 
thesis of De Beaumont, the more recent observations and theories of 
Mr. Darwin, or the mechanical researches of Mr. Hopkins. Both 
form long chains which pursue parallel lines not more than 3 or 4 
degrees distant. But we must probably take in a much wider geogra- 
phical range if we would seek a general geological theory for the region 


which they traverse. The mountain chains of the Peninsula of India 


O42 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore,  |JUNK, 


are parallel, or approximately so, to the Malayan, and like them, spring 
trom the great central system of Asia. The chain of the Peninsula of 
Malaya is directly continued to this region, and from it descend nearly 
parallel chains through Burmah, Siam and Cochin China. These 
ranges determine the general direction of the sea coasts wherever these 
are exposed to waves sufficiently strong to prevent the formation and 
extension of alluvial plains. The western coasts of India and of the 
Tenasserim Provinces, Siam, the gulf of Siam and the eastern coast of 
Cochin China are thus fixed. A wide and interesting field of inquiry 
is opened up by the probable geological connection between the regions 
of these ranges and those of the Indian Archipelago generally, Aus- 
tralia and the Archipelagoes of the Pacific, evidenced by the prevalence 
of parellel lines of elevation, and perhaps also by organic remains, such 
as the fossil elephant and some of the carboniferous plants of New 
South Wales. The former existence of a great Australasian continent, 
an extension probably of the present continent of Asia, which seems 
to result from Mr. Darwin’s theory of Atolls, would be an mference in 
accordance with these facts. Viewing the whole region, interspersed 
with peninsulas and islands, from the Indian Ocean to the heart of the 
Pacific, as one, it appears that De Beaumont’s theory of parallel recti- 
linear or oblong areas of elevation and subsidence, which Mr. Darwin 
has applied to the eastern tracts, requires modification, and that if we 
conceive curvilinear lines or systems of parallel curvilinear lines pro- 
ceding from centres and often meeting similar lines or systems from 
other centres, and again lateral and secondary lines diverging from the 
principal, the arrangement of the observed ranges will assume greater 
symmetry, and be found perhaps to accord with the hypothesis that 
one widely extended mechanical pulsion, accompanied by local foci of 
intense development from weakness in the rocks or increased plutonic 
or volcanic action, gave the first direction to all the main lines of 
elevation. Thus let us conceive such a centre to be situated in the 
western half of New Guinea, and we have some independent warrant 
for doing so, in the circumstance that the mountains ofits unexplored 
interior appear to attain a magnitude unusual in the Archipelago. From 
this focus we may trace one great curvilinear fracture or band of rupture 
of the earth’s crust through the Sunda Islands to Chittagong ; a second 


through the mountainous volcanic islands of Ceram and Bouro, and 


1847.] including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §e. 543 


along the southern coasts of Celebes and Borneo (Gaonong Ratos), 
Billiton, Banda, the Malay Peninsula, &c.; a third through the Philli- 
pines, Formosa, Japan, &c.; a fourth along the southern coast of New 
Guinea, and through the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, New Zealand, 
&c. ; a fifth along the southern coast of New Guinea, across Torres 
Straits and along the eastern coast of Austyalia, and a sixth perhaps 
through the north-western division of Australia. Other principal lines 
probably proceed across the Moluccas and Celebes, through Borneo 
and the islands of the China sea (now a subsiding tract), and join 
the mountain chains of Cochin China and Siam, but the geography of 
Borneo is not sufficiently known to allow of our positively ranking these 
as seventh and eighth lines. The intermediate areas may be occupied 
by numerous other lines, but the subsidence of various tracts renders 
it difficult or impossible, particularly to the eastward, to. trace the ori- 
ginal courses of vertical movement until the soundings of the Polyne- 
sian seas are ascertained. Subsequent shifting subterranean action 
would cause many other fractures in various directions, but it would not, 
at least until the lapse of a long geological epoch, obliterate the primary 
lines. It would often cause cross fractures, of which many instances 
might be pointed out. It is no objection to this hypothesis that many 
of the lines seem to proceed from the central table-land of Asia. Because 
if at the time these fissures were being extended southward, a great 
local action took place at or near New Guinea, they would, according to 
the mechanical laws examined by Mr. Hopkins, diverge from their origi- 
nal direction towards that point, or to meet the lines radiating from it. 
Thus we observe the two least broken lines to pursue a southerly 
direction till they reach the parallel of 8° N L., when, at the Nicobars 
in the one and at Junk-ceylon in the other, they are deflected to the 
S. E. When they cross the meridian of 106° E. they make a more 
decided bend to the eastward. If we follow these lines and the chains 
of Siam and Cochin China northward we may trace them upwards to the 
Bayan Khara mountains, and thence to the vast central mass of Kul- 
kun, from whence great ranges are said to proceed towards all the points 
of the compass. But in the north-western part of the province of 
Yunnan and north-east of Burmah and Assam their continuity is inter- 
rupted, and we seem to have ascertained another central region whence 
radiate not only the lines which afterwards converge to New Guinea, 
4B 


544 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [JUNE, 


but various other curvilinear ranges proceeding S. E., E., N. E., and 
N. through China, and N. and N. W. through Thibet, and lastly, the 
Himalayas and a minor range proceeding south-eastward on the south 
of the valley of Assam, and continued perhaps in the Vindyas,—for a 
subsequent line of subsidence passing down the plain of the Ganges 
and through the Bay of Bengal, of which there is some evidence, may 
have destroyed the pre-existing continuity. Many of these ranges 
proceed primarily from the Kulkun, but it is remarkable that they con- 
verge towards the region indicated. The region where the Himalayas 
attain their sublimest proportions and give birth to rivers that embrace 
them and all India in their courses, is another grand focus. From this 
centre the range proceeds on the one side to the eastward, and on the 
other to the N. W. To the north of the former a secondary and ap- 
proximately parallel range also proceeds eastward, and includes with it 
the valley of the Sanpao, and to the south another and smaller second- 
ary parallel range traverses upper India. To determine the original 
centres of maximum intensity and directions of the forces that elevated 
the great connected mountain system that forms the skeleton of the 
Asiatic continent, is a problem beyond the present reach of geology.* 
The Malayan chain I have mentioned as a series of groups, and from 
the breadth of country which their members occupy compared with 
their height and apparent bulk, and their general appearance as viewed 
from the Straits, I am led to believe that they consist of connected 
systems, each analogous to that of the Singapore hills, or of principal 
undulating masses from which parallel ranges proceed in a N. W. and 
S. E. direction. The rivers probably have their sources at the heads 
of the valleys included between these ranges and turn seaward at the 
* There can be little doubt that an extensive knowledge of the physical and mineralogi- 
cal constitution of mountain ranges will form the true basis of the highest department of 
the science, now only dawning,—the Mechanism of the Earth. But the day is probably 
not far distant when the geologist, like the astronomer, will need to be thoroughly in- 
doctrinated with the principles of mechanical science in its widest sense. Fortunately 
for the worshippers of nature of humbler acquirements, geology is so immersed in matter, 
so wrought into every inch of the earth, that its Priests have need of a whole tribe of 
Levites. Wherever a man finds himself placed he has but to employ his eyes to become 
a useful labourer, and so far will a little knowledge be from proving dangerous to him 
that it may be safely said, that while even entire ignorance is not a bar to the collection 


of facts, every little accession of knowledge from any of the sciences becomes an instru- 
ment of observation. 


1847.| zncluding Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Se. 545 


extremities of the ranges. The most southern rivers, such as the Johore, 
Sakadai, &c. which flow southward, would also bend to the east and 
west, where the last system of the continent terminates and that of Singa- 
pore begins, did they not meet with a depression so low as to be 
accessible by the sea. 

Singapore is merely separated from the mainland by this depression, 
which forms a narrow tortuous river-like arm of the sea, and is in fact 
sunk into the continent and embraced by it on three sides, so that its 
southern shore seems to be the proper continuation of the southern 
coast of the Peninsula. Its geographical connection with it is there- 
fore complete. When we cross the strait no difference in the topogra- 
phy is observable. And the low hills which give the surface an undula- 
ting appearance like that of Singapore, probably resemble those of the 
latter in their internal structure as much as they do in the superjacent 
soils and in the stunted jungle. The interior of the Peninsula is 
almost wholly unexplored. In coasting along its western shore from 
Pinang to Cape Rachado a high chain or rather series of ranges of moun- 
tains is observed inland nearly the whole way, which from their general- 
ly sharp-peaked summits, the nature of the detritus brought down from 
them by the rivers, and the evidence afforded by the few points where 
they have been reached, we are justified in believing to consist in great 
measure of plutonic rocks. In front of this range we observe a broad 
tract of country often appearing to be perfectly flat and very little above 
the sea level for miles together, but from which sometimes low hills 
rise like Islands out of the sea. These hills are frequently quite solita- 
ry and ata great distance from the central mountains, or near the coast. 
Further inland they seem to be generally in groups, and towards the 
mountains the country at some places appears hilly and undulating. 
At Malacca these low hills are so much grouped as to resemble some 
parts of Singapore, and they are covered by gravel and fragments pre- 
cisely similar to those found on some of the Singapore hills. In some 
of the hills opposite Pinang I observed similar fragments. In both 
cases the soil had a deep red ferruginous aspect.* That most of the 
hills scattered along the western plains of the Peninsula were Islands 
in the sea at no remote date, there can be no doubt. The plains from 

* Cape Rachado is described by Crawford to consist of quartz rocks interspersed with 
frequent veins of clay iron ore. 


4 B2 


346 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [June, 


which they spring are flat, generally only a few feet above the sea level, 
alluvial and at some places abounding in marine shells of the same 
species that at present inhabit the straits. The rivers of the Peninsula, 
although generally small, are exceedingly numerous, and bring down 
large quantities of sediment. In March last, off the mouth of the 
Salangore river, the steamer in which I was, passed through a broad tract 
discoloured by the sediment. Extensive mud banks have been formed 
in the straits and are constantly increasing. For evidence on this sub- 
ject I must refer to a separate paper containing some remarks on the 
Straits of Malacca and the alluvial tracts along its sides. It is not 
therefore unreasonable to conclude that the whole chain of these hills 
from Pinang to Singapore has a strict geological connection. At Ma- 
lacca hot springs exist, and the hills nearest to them are of the nature 
before mentioned. We naturally resort to the mountain chain of the 
interior for the seat of that central voleanic force of which the mani- 
festations on these outskirts are of so peculiar a character, so wide in 
their extent yet so devoid of intensity. But we find that there is no 
evidence whatever of any volcanoes ever having existed in this chain. 
If there ever were any their fires have long been quenched. 

If we now direct our attention to the southward of Singapore, we 
find that it is but one of an extensive archipelago of Islands, stretching 
to the south-east, and which after a slight interruption, is continued in 
Banca. That the geological chain continues to the latter Island is clear 
from the account which Dr. Horsfield gives of it. According to him 
the elevated parts of Banca consist principally of gramite, but in the 
secondary elevations “red iron stone” is extensively distributed in 
single rocks, or in veins of many united together covering large tracts of 
country.* This circumstance and the general topography of the Island, 
as described by Dr. Horsfield, assimilate to Simgapore. The paucity 
of tin ore in the latter arises from the want of granitic hills. Bukit 
Temah, the only hill yet explored in which sienite abounds, contains tin, 


* See memoirs of Sir S. Raffles, p. 150. Major Court, in his account of Banea notices 
the gravelly nature of the soil (Court’s Palembang). Professor Jameson, in Murray’s 
Encyclopedia of Geography, mentions the circumstance of the primitive mountains being 
immediately bounded by a formation of red iron stone doubtingly, and adds, ‘‘ Crawford 
who makes this statement gives no description of the formation.’? From Crawford’s 
meagre notice of Banca [ presume he does not write from personal observation, and lke 
Sir S. Raffles, he probably derived his information from Dr. Horsefield’s manuscript. 


ee 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Sc. 547 


and in fact derives its name from the circumstance, as it literally signi- 
fies “Tin Hill.” We thus find that what we may call the semi-voleanic 
band of the straits of Malacca may, to a certain extent, be disconnected 
from the Peninsula, and viewed as a chain of Islands extending proba- 
bly from Junk-ceylon to Banca, and imeluding the existing Islands and 
numerous rocks and reefs in the straits of Malacca. It appears there- 
fore, that its southern extremity is almost in contact with Sumatra,* and 
the question arises whether its volcanic connection be not with this 
great Island rather than the Peninsula. May it not be reasonably pre- 
sumed that if the origin and partial elevation of the Sumatra chain was 
contemporaneous with that of the Peninsula, the line of greatest inten- 
sity of the subterranean forces, in whichever it was originally, was 
ultimately determined to the latter chain, and that at some now ancient 
era the former was left to comparative repose? The height of the 
plutonic mountains of the Peninsula is greatly inferior to that of the 
mountains of Sumatra. But all the elevated peaks of the latter appear 
to be volcanic, and perhaps the purely granitic ranges are not more 
elevated than those of the Peninsula. The elevation of the two pluto- 
nic ranges and the shallow bed of the strait between them may have 
been contemporaneous and antecedent to the period when volcanoes 
burst out along the Sumatra chain. These volcanoes, from their num- 
ber and power would arrest the rise of the region, or cause any subse- 
quent elevatory movement to be rare and of small amount. Until the 
interior of the Peninsula is explored these inquiries to a large extent 
must be merely speculative. But it is certain that the Sumatra chain 
has in recent eras been the seat of great volcanic energy, and that it is 
still subject to convulsive movements, the tremors or undulations of 
which are transmitted as far as what I have termed the semi-volcanic 
band of the straits on the one side, and which are felt much more severe- 
ly in the less distant chain of Islands on the west coast of Sumatra. 
Marsden states that a number of volcanoes exist} and describes one 
which opened in the side of a mountain about 20 miles inland of Ben- 
coolen, and which during his residence at that Factory scarcely ever 
failed to emit smoke. To the S. E. the three volcanic peaks of Gunong 


* It will appear however in the paper formerly referred to that this approximation ts 
due to modern external, not to ancient internal forces. 


} History of Sumatra, p. 24 . 


548 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [June, 


Dempo, Lumut and Berapi, rise to the height of 12,000 feet. Gunong 
Dempo was ascended by Mr. Church, the present resident councillor at 
Singapore, with the late Mr. Presgrave im 1818. An interesting ac- 
count ofthe ascent is inserted in Raffles’ Memoirs, (p. 323.) Mr. Pres- 
grave states that he had frequently seen smoke issuing from the 
mountain, and the natives informed him that withm their memory it 
had emitted flames attended with a loud noise. In the upper region of 
the mountain the party found the trees dead and externally burned 
quite black. Further north is the great central volcanic region, partially 
at least included in the ancient kingdom of Menang Kabu. This is 
described by Raffles, (Memoirs, p. 347) as being exclusively volcanic. 
The rocks are mostly basaltic. Two lofty volcanic mountains rise near 
the large lake of Sincara. From one of these, Gunong Berapi (fiery 
mountain) which is above 13,000 feet high, smoke issued. Hot springs 
also exist here. ‘To the east of the lake at the rocks consisted of fel- 
spar, granite, quartz, &c mixed with a great variety of volcanic produc- 
tions in the greatest confusion. Iron ore of various kinds lay in the 
path of the travellers. To the west of the lake were found granite, 
marble, great varieties of limstones, masses of calcareous spar and 
many other substances. On the N. E. of the lake near Pageruyang 
numerous stumps and trunks of trees in a state of petrifaction pro- 
truded from the ground. The limits of the region on the north and 
south are not ascertained. About 60 miles south of Mt. Talong ano- 
ther Gunong Berapi occurs. Near Mt. Ophir a volcanic mountain is 
marked in Marsden’s map, and Mt. Ophir itself is probably an extinct 
voleano. Further north still lies another of the ascertained volcanoes 
Mt. Batagapit. Mr. J. Anderson, who visited the east coast in 1823, 
mentions* a native tradition of an engagement having taken place be- 
tween two of the mountains in the interior of Delli (Sebaya and 
Senaban) when part of them fell into the valley. From these moun- 
tains sulphur is procured, which if it does not prove that they are 
formed of voleanic materials as Mr. Anderson conceives, at least leads 
to the inference that they have been the seat of volcanic action. At 
Acheen abundant supplies of sulphur for internal consumption and ex- 
portation are obtained from a volcanic mountain in the neighbour- 
hood.+ Lastly, one of the western chain of Islands, Si Beero, according 


* Mission to the Ek, coast of Sumatra, p. 199. + Marsden, p. 313. 


1847.]| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Se. 549 


to Marsden, possesses a volcano. Earthquakes are of frequent oecur- 
rence. Marsden notices one of unusual severity, which occurred in 
1770." 

Sir T. Raffles mentions that on the east coast they are said to happen 
every 5 or 6 years.t The Malays on the east coast represented to Mr. 
Anderson that slight shocks were occasionally feltt and the same in- 
formation was received by Lieut. Craoke at Jambi.§ In the in- 
teresting memoir on this state by that officer appended to Mr. Ander- 
son’s work, it is likewise mentioned that a violent earthquake was stated 
to have been experienced about 20 years or more previous to his visit 
in 1820, and to have been preceded by a period of great heat and 
drought, which ruined the crops and occasioned a distressing scarcity of 
food. It is not improbable that this earthquake was simultaneous with 
one which happened in 1797, of which the effects on the opposite 
coast is mentioned by Raflles. “It is stated that the vibratory 
shocks continued for 3 minutes, and recurred at intervals during the 
space of 3 hours till the shock completely ceased. At Padang, the 
houses of the inhabitants were almost entirely destroyed and the public 
works much damaged. A vessel lying at anchor was thrown by the 
sudden rise of the tide upwards of three miles on shore. The number 
of lives lost there amounted to above 300: of these some were crushed 
under the ruins of falling houses, some were literally entombed by the 


* The most severe that [ have known, was chiefly experienced in the district of 
Manna, in the year 1770. A village was destroyed by the houses falling down and 
taking fire, and several lives were lost. The ground was in one place rent a quarter of a 
mile, the width of two fathoms, and depth of four or five. A bituminous matter is de- 
scribed to have swelled over the sides of the cavity, and the earth, for a Jong time after 
the shocks, was observed to contract and dilate alternately. Many parts of the hills far 
inland could be distinguished to have given way, and a consequence of this was, that 
during three weeks, Manna river was so much impregnated with particles of clay, that 
the natives could not bathe init. At this time was formed, near to the mouth of Padang 
Goochie, a neighbouring river, south of the former, a large plain, seven miles long and 
half a mile broad; where there had been before only a narrow beach. ‘The quantity of 
earth brought down on this occasion was so considerable, that the hill upon which the 
English resident’s house stands, appears, from indubitable marks, less elevated by fifteen 
feet than it was before the event.” Id. p. 25. 

+ Memors, p. 295. 

t Anderson, ut supra, p. 199. 

§ Id. p. 402, 


550 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, |JuN®, 


earth opening on them, and others were drowned by the sudden irrup- 
tion of the waters of the ocean.” 

On the 18th April, 1818, another violent earthquake was experienced 
on the west coast. Sir T. Raffles, who arrived at Bencoolen the day 
after, found that every house was more or less shattered, and many in 
ruins. In the Island of Pulo Nias, on the west coast, earthquakes appear 
to be felt very severely. The same remark may possibly apply to the 
other Islands in the same chain, for our knowledge of these phenomena 
in the native countries has been hitherto almost entirely accidental, and 
our information regarding Pulo Nias arises from the connection of 
Europeans with it. Marsden mentions that in 1763 a village in that 
Island was swallowed up by an earthquake, and a recent shock, which 
will be immediately noticed more at large, was still more disas- 
trous in its effects. That the undulations in most cases extend across 
the straits to the semi-volcanic line is highly probable. Although our 
connection with the straits now extends over a period of 60 years, 
unfortunately no connected records have been preserved:of the critical 
geological and meteorological phenomena that have been experienced | 
during that time. In Pinang during the last 12 years several shocks 
have been felt. These occurred in November 1833, August 1835, 
September 1837 and January 1843.* 

Those of 1837 were the most violent, and the undulations appear to 
have been from south to north, and to have lasted a minute and a half.+ 
The shocks in 1843 happened about half an hour after midnight on the 
morning of the 6th of January, and at 3 past 2 vp. m. on the 8th. The 


* Pinang Gazette of 7th, 14th and 28th January, 1843. 

+ ‘It is said that on that occasion several herds of cattle in the neighbourhood were 
observed running in the utmost confusion in all directions, that lamps and picture frames 
oscillated, that the Roman Catholic Church bell rang of its own accord, that quantities 
of large shot piled up in the Fort were thrown down and scattered about, thata stone 
wall of a substantial building in town was rent, and that the whole inhabitants were thrown 
into a state of consternation. The shipping inthe harbour did not experience this shock, 
nor did the sea appear agitated. Five days subsequently, however, another smart shock 
was felt and was followed by a very heavy squall from the N. W. and great agitation 
and rise of the sea in the harbour. The tides overflowed the Northern beach, and flood- 
ed the compounds and lower rooms of the houses in the neighbourhood. This convul- 
sion was experienced about thesame time at Acheen and along the Pedier coast, and it 
is said that these places sustained considerable damage.’ Pinang Gazette of 28th Janua- 
ry, 1843, 


1847.] including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, ec. 551 


first shock was more severe than the second, but both were slight, 
producing no other mechanical effects than a tremour of the ground 
which caused articles suspended to oscillate, stopped a clock, and 
occasioned in some persons a giddiness in the head. The first shock 
although only felt by a few persons in the plain, who happened to be 
awake, caused the residents on one of the hills to spring from their 
beds under the apprehension that robbers had attacked their houses, 
so violent was the noise of rattling venetians, bolts, &c. The undu- 
lations on this occasion, as in 1857, appeared to be from south to north. 
The shock on the morning of the 6th was experienced precisely at the 
same instant at Singapore* and at Malacca.t The undulations at 
Singapore are said to have been from east to west, very slight, and to 
have lasted 8 or 10 seconds. About half a year afterwards it was first 
learned in the Straits that a most violent earthquake had devastated Pulo 
Nias, commencing about midnight, between the 5th and 6th January, or 
nearly the same time when the undulations were felt along the western 
coast of the Peninsula. The shocks were at first from the west, shift- 
ing to the north, but as they increased in violence they appeared to lose 
any fixed direction and became a complete trembling of the earth, which 
lasted 9 minutes ; houses were destroyed, trees uprooted, a portion ofa 
mountain fell, and the ground opened in wide fissures, from which “a 
black frothy liquid trickled.” After a brief interval of inaction, the 
undulations recommenced and the sea suddenly rose in a vast wave 
which rolled in from the south-east, overwhelming a considerable tract 
of country and sweeping away whole villages and their inhabitants, 
The shocks were felt at intervals of 2 minutes until } past 4 in the 
morning, when another paroxysm even more violent than the first took 
place, lasting about 6 minutes. The shocks were from the west, veering 
to the north, but changing directly to the south. Tremours of the 
ground were experienced for several subsequent days. Thus the latest 
earthquake that has occurred in this region was experienced in its 
greatest violence a little to the west of the volcanic chain of Sumatra, 
and the undulations were transmitted or induced so widely and so 
rapidly as to reach Penang, Malacca and Singapore simultaneously and 
at or about the same time when the first shock was felt at Pulo Nias. 

It appears therefore that the volcanoes of Sumatra still communicate 

* Singapore Free Press of the 12th January, 1843, t Id. of 2nd February, 1843. 


4°C 


e 


52 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore,  [JuNE, 


with an internal igneous sea, and from time to time emit smoke and 
gases, that to this day the Island is subject to frequent earthquakes, 
that several of those that have occurred within the last hundred years 
have been of great force, rending the ground, and. at least on two occa- 
sions giving vent to liquid volcanic matter, and that their operation 
extends, though with diminished violence, to the western coast of the 
Peninsula. When we consider the height and bulk of the crateriform 
voleanic mountains even viewed only relatively to the level of the hilly 
country above which they rise, and the large belts of volcanic rocks which 
exist in the neighbourhood of some of those that have been explored, if 
they do not connect the whole chain, we are carried back to a period in 
the history of Sumatra during which its volcanic phenomena were on 
the grandest scale. If at this day, when the fires of her mountains 
have ceased, or are dormant, the coast of the Peninsula is agitated by the 
comparatively feeble shocks which disturb the repose of the Island, it 
is reasonable to believe that when her volcanoes, whether simultaneously, 
successively, or alternately, were in full activity along a line of nearly a 
thousand miles, the neighbouring regions to the distance of 100 to 200 
miles must have been subject to earthquakes of great violence, and 
accompanied, according to the degree of their intensity, by volcanic 
emissions and eruptions in greater or less abundance. ‘That portion of 
the volcanic belt where the evidences of violent igneous action are most 
striking, appears to be Singapore, and the neighbourhood, although it 
is not improbable that the whole tract from Cape Rachado to Banca, 
exhibits more extensive and continuous disturbance than the northern 
part of the belt. That region of Sumatra which, so far as observation 
has extended, may be termed the principal volcanic tract, is about 3 
degrees distant from Singapore, and lies in a parallel about a degree 
and a quarter to the south of this Island. The direction of the Singapore 
strata is across or approximately at right angles to parallel limes form- 
ing the sides of a plane connecting the Island with this part of Me- 
nangkabu, and the dip of the strata although, as formerly observed, 
exhibiting much irregularity, is generally from the point of the compass 
where Menangkabu lies. 

There seems, upon the whole, to be strong grounds for the opinion 
that the hill system of Singapore has its volcanic* connection with 


* Our meagre information regarding the formations of Sumatra does not admit of our 
instituting a comparison between them and the rocks of the opposite coast of the Penin- 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §c. 553 


Sumatra and not with the mountain chain of the Peninsula. If this 
view shall be found to be borne out by further observations, we must 
conceive that the old granite mountain chain of the Peninsula (which, as 
is shown in the paper before mentioned, terminates apparently between 
Parcelar Pomt and Pulo Varela, although a few minor groups exist in the 
interior to the southward) had its extremity in this direction washed by 
the sea. The region below which operated the expansive volcanic fluids 
or gases whose effects we are considering, extended from Sumatra to the 
Peninsula, and probably a little to the westward of the one and consi- 
derably to the eastward of the other, for the whole vast platform or 
partially emerging and partially subsiding continent that rises out of the 
depths of the Indian ocean and stretches eastward far into the Pacific, 
rests on one region of connected. though shifting subterranean excitement. 
The line of most intense force would be the ordinary one, the volcanic 
chain of Sumatra. Thence the waves of the volcanic sea would travel in 
parallel lines to the north-eastward, causing a tension of the region and 
a tendency to split in the direction of those lines. That portion of the 
region intermediate between the western and eastern mountain chains 
which had not been disturbed and fractured during the process of elevation 
like that from which the chains were obtruded, or of which the fractures 
had not reached the surface, would offer most resistence. But on 
arriving at the western limit of the old fractures caused during the ele- 
vation of the Malayan chain, the space so fractured would yield in vari- 
ous points of weakness. The old fractures at the southern extremity 
of the chain would, by the tension, be prolonged in the same direction, 
that is to the 8. E., and cross fractures being established and the vol- 


sula. The central mountains are chiefly plutonic and volcanic. The granite or sienite 
of the southern regions would appear from Marsden’s slight notice to resemble that of 
Singapore. The lower tracts of the west coast as described by him possess a remarkable 
resemblance in their general configuration to the surface of Singapore. Like the latter, 
they consist of rounded elevationsof no great height, separated by winding flat swamps 
penetrating for miles between them. The hills ‘‘ not unfrequently exhibit the appearance 
of an amphitheatre.” A co-incidence in aconfiguration so uncommon when other analo- 
gies are also considered, can hardly be viewed as accidental. The soil he deseribes asa 
stiff reddish clay. The rock exposed in sea cliffsand in some places at the bottoms of 
rivers is a species of clay called by the natives nappal, which is common in Singapore. 
The country between the mountains and the eastern coast of Sumatra is httle known, but 
what information has been obtained respecting its geological features | have collected in 
the paper before alluded to, 
4c2 


554 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore, [June; 


canic forces sufficing to elevate the rocks and produce eruptions at 
different places along the lines of fissure, the system of semi-volcanic 
hills extending from the termination of the Malayan plutonic chain to 
Banca would be produced. Whether we admit the notion of a transla- 
tion of waves or suppose that under the region a general volcanic pres- 
sure was in operation, producing an expansive tendency whose super- 
ficial manifestations varied according to the mineral structure and com- 
position of the rocky crust and particular local intensity of force, the 
same results would follow under the assigned conditions. 


Having in the above paper had occasion to bring together several 
scattered notices of recent volcanic action in Sumatra and the west 
coast of the Peninsula, it may be remarked that some general facts ap- 
pear which it may be useful to separate from the local matters with 
which they are mixed up. 

1. The advance of a great wave upon the land, is a circumstance 
common to most earthquakes on sea coasts. Mr. Darwin considers it 
to be caused by a line of fracture being formed beneath the sea. If 
there is a consequent sinking of the sea bed along the line, the rush of 
the waters on both sides to restore the level would occasion first the 
retirement of the sea from the shore and then the production of a wave 
rolling in upon the shore. But might it not also be caused without 
any sinking or even rending of the sea bed? A strong blow beneath 
the earth’s crust imparting a momentary centrifugal tendency would 
cause the sea above the point or line of impact to rise violently to a 
height proportioned to the force of the concussion. But this wave 
would necessarily be partly above and partly below the general level, or 
have a hollow on each side towards which the neighbouring waters 
would rush, and thus the same effect be produced along the adjacent 
coast asin the former case. Mr. Darwin also mentions that places 
situated on shallow bays suffer great damage from these waves, while 
those seated close to the edge of profoundly deep water escape. In 
the same manner the waves of the Indian ocean, on reaching the shal- 
low coast of Sumatra, rise as they advance until they acquire a great 
height. This is probably attributable to the friction of the bottom retard- 
ing the waves while a constant succession press on from the sea behind. 
When bays are narrow the wave will have a greater tendency to rise 


1847.| including Notices of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, §c. 555 


owing to its progressive lateral contraction, as is seen more markedly in 
bores. 

2. The opening of fissures and evacuation through them of black 
fluid matter. The spasmodic expansion and contraction of fissures con- 
tinued after the shock. 

3. The disruption of portions of mountains or landslips. 

4. The elevation of tracts of land. 

5. The greater violence of earthquakes on hills. This was observed 
at Pinang in 1843. Marsden remarks that houses situated on a low 
sandy soil are least affected, and those which stand on distinct hills 
suffer most from the shocks. 

6. The connection between earthquakes and the condition of the 
atmosphere. To what is stated by Lieut. Crooke respecting the great 

#drought which preceded the earthquake at Jambi, the following extract 
from Marsden relative to Sumatran earthquakes in general may be 
added :—“‘ Earthquakes have been remarked by some to happen usually 
on sudden changes of weather, and particularly after violent heats; but 
I do not vouch this upon my own experience, which has been pretty 
ample.” The earthquake of 1843 occurred during one of the longest 
and severest droughts that had ever happened in Pinang. This 
drought, which was attended with oppressive heat and occasional hot 
winds, never before experienced within the memory of the residents, 
appears to have extended over the northern part of Sumatra. 

Nott. 

When the foregoing paper was written I had not seen the talent- 
ed and eleborate memoir on Indian Earthquakes by Lieutenant R. B. 
Smith, which I received by the Hooghly. The portions at which I 
have had time to glance suffice to show that it contains a mine of 
wealth. The above notices of Malayan earthquakes, however meagre, 
may serve to connect his researches with the Indian Archipelago, re- 
specting the general geology and recent volcanic disturbances of which 
I am collecting information. Meantime the subjoined account which 
has been furnished me by my brother, abridged from the official report 
of the Alcalde Mayor of the province of Cagayan in the Island of Luzon, 
of an earthquake attended by the subsidence of two hills and by a 
violent hurricane which occurred there on the night between the 7th 
and 8th October last, may prove interesting. It will appear in the 


556 On the Local and Relative Geology of Singapore. |Junx, 


Singapore Free Press, but I presume that will form no objection to its 
being put on record in the more permanent pages of the Journal. 
“The Casa Real of LAuxo, a brick-building, and one of the most solid 
edifices in the province, was destroyed. The rector’s house was de- 
stroyed, and the roof of the Church suffered much damage, and many 
other of the public edifices were more or lessinjured. The Tribunal 
stood it out well, and will only require a new roof. All the wooden 
houses were levelled with the ground. None of the attap houses 
escaped, and the greater part were blown over with many of their un- 
happy owners in them, and their little stores of paddy. The people 
notwithstanding, had been since occupied in repairing the serious in- 
juries which the Renta de Tabacos had-suffered, and the wages, which 
were paid daily, served as some consolation to them in the midst of so 
much misfortune. Five persons are reckoned to have been killed and 11 # 
wounded. In CatamanruGan the Church and rector’s house were 
entirely destroyed, and the priest was living in the Royal Tribunal 
which had escaped injury, and in which he had erected an altar. The 
wooden houses suffered more than those of Lallo. The attap houses 
were all destroyed. The people experienced the misfortune of being 
caught by the hurricane with the greater part of their grain still on the 
eround, the whole of which was destroyed. Eleven persons were killed, 
and 20 seriously injured. At Aparro the majority of the houses in 
the district are of wood which were mostly all destroyed. The Royal 
Tribunal, a new and solid building, was overthrown—the rector’s house 
destroyed and the Church much injured. Nearly all the wooden 
houses were destroyed, and none of the attap ones escaped, the greater 
part going to block up the river or into the sea, which rose into the 
village and contributed to make the night more frightful, and to aug- 
ment the number of victims, who amounted to 27 killed and 53 wound- 
ed. All the harvest that had been gathered in perished, being carried 
into the sea with the houses. The destruction of buffaloes, horses, cows, 
and other property was excessive. In Bueury nearly all houses and 
buildings were destroyed :—one man killed. The Convent of ABnuLOG 
was entirely demolished, the Church lost its roof and belfry, and nearly 
all the houses were levelled with the ground:—8 persons were killed. 
To the north of this village, at the distance of 6 miles, there is a high 
hill on the top of which dwelt a number of natives who pay allegiance 


1847. | On the Refinage of understandard Silver. 557 


to Her Majesty. These people relate that on the evening preceding 
the hurricane they felt great and frequent tremblings-of the earth,— 
that at nightfall they began to hear in the midst of it a frightful noise 
which impelled them to abandon their abode, and fly, full of fear, to a 
creek for shelter from the fury of the tempest which was increasing :— 
on the ceasing of the storm, on the morning of the 8th, they returned 
to their dwelling, when they found that it and the hill on which it 
stood had sunk,—there appearing in its place a large lake of black 
water, of a fetid odour, and smoking. In Pampnona the Churches 
and Tribunal were destroyed, as well as the rest of the houses, with the 
exception of the Church of the division of Masi, which being of very 
solid construction, escaped with trifling injury ; 5 persons were killed. 
At the entrance of the river of this village there was a hill sixty feet high 
separating the sea from the river, which having disappeared, the two 
waters are now joiméd and a wide and practicable passage opened. Five 
victims are reported. Within the boundaries of all these districts 
nature presents a most sombre picture, not a single green tree is to be 
seen, the thickest trunks alone remaining, and these as if only left at 
last to show that vegetation had ceased ; which is no doubt owing to 
the great quantity of electricity with which the atmosphere was charged 
during the hurricane.” 
(To be continued.) 


On the Refinage, on a large scale, by means of Nitre, of brittle or 
understandard Silver, for coinage purposes ; and on a ready mode 
of approximative assaying of silver, by W.B. O’SHaucunessy, 
M. D. and F. R. S., Co-Secy. Asiatic Society of Bengal. 

Although the subject of the refinage of silver for coinage purposes 
may appear of too special and technical a character to warrant my 
affording to it any portion of the pages of this Journal, it still presents 
some collateral points of general interest. It affords an opportunity 
too of conveying in a simple and intelligible form a few observations 
regarding our silver standard and the approximative testing of silver 
coin and bullion, which may prove useful to some of the readers of this 


Journal who have to manage bullion transactions with native states. 


558 On the Refinage of understandard Silver. [JuNn, 


The East India Company’s new rupee is by law composed of 11 parts 
by weight of pure silver and 1 of copper. A pound of this alloy is 
divided into 12 ounces, each ounce into 20 penny weights. In the 
receipt of bullion tendered at the mints, the alloy of 11-12ths is 
taken as standard, and according to the number of half penny weights 
of pure silver, above or below eleven ounces, or 220 dwts. the bullion 
is on assay reported better or worse than standard. 'The composition 
of a few of the most remarkable varieties of bullion and coin received 
at the Calcutta mint will illustrate this statement. 


1 th of Duwis. of Assay Report. 
contains—Fine silver—Alloy. 
UATE SHVOT: «cto Se's wae 220 20 Standard. 
Silver Coin of Great Britain,.... 222 18 2 Dwts. Better. 
New Dutch Guilders,.......... 226 14 6 Br. 
Old “Sivca: Mupeess c 2. on cess ys 235 5 15 Br. 


Sycee silver of best quality,.... 2363 oF 16} Br. 
Silver ingots from mint refinery,. 240 0 20 Br. Pure. 
Mpanisn. Wolars. .  s. a > a tees 2152- 24E 41 Worse. 
Five Franc pieces,........ EM eae 5.0 24 4 Wo. 
Nanashaye Rupees of Jaloun, .. 202 38 18" We, 
Debmohree Rs. of Assam, .... 130 110 90 Wo. 

These few instances are sufficient to exemplify the practical range of 
proportion in the silver and alloy of the bullion usually presented. By 
the mint rules a charge for refinage is levied on all such bullion, which 
is alloyed to a greater extent than 264 parts or penny weights in 240. 
technically 64 ‘‘ worse” than standard. 

In alloys however of silver and copper only, it is generally found that _ 
however large the proportion of copper, the bullion does not require 
refinage for coinage purposes, if mixed with the requisite quantity of 
pure silver, or superior silver alloyed with copper only. Thus Dollars 
and Five Franc pieces may be used for alligation without risk of render- 
ine the resulting ingots unmanageable in the subsequent stages of 
comage. But if the bullion, whether worse or better than standard 
contains lead, tin, brass or sulphur in a larger proportion than two 
dwts. in the pound, it affords ingots which generally prove brittle in 
the course of manipulation, or give a mixture of uncertain fineness 
and unfit to be coined, To illustrate this I may mention that I have fre- 


1847. | On the Refinage of understandard Silver. 599 


quently known Sycee silver at 162 Br. alloyed with 23 copper, to yield 
bars as brittle as slate or cast iron ; and these when assayed to prove 2 
or even 3 dwts. better than standard. This proceeds from the presence 
of lead or sulphur in the Sycee silver, part of which burning off leaves 
the resulting mass richer in silver than before, but brittle from the small 
portion of lead which remains. On the other hand I have still more 
frequently seen alloys of silver and copper, 50 to 80 worse than stand” 
ard, affording with the due proportion of richer silver, a perfectly malle- 
able and standard metal. 

The object of refinages for the mint is therefore usually to re- 
move the lead, tin, zinc or sulphur and to leave the silver and copper, 
or occasionally, when pure or rich silver is not available, to bring up 
inferior alloys to standard or even superior fineness. 

The process followed by the native refiners in the bazar is that of 
cupellation, and is performed by them with great success and economy. 
They use for the cupel a mixture of one part by weight of recently burned 
lime, sifted but unslaked, and two parts by weight of chaff ashes. With 
this they make a basin like mass, usually eighteen inches in diameter be- 
low and 4 to 6 inches deep. This they moisten well with water and beat 
with the hands into firm consistence. Pieces of brick are placed round 
the sloping sides to give support, and two pairs of bellows are arranged 
so that by their alternate use a constant blast of air is kept up during 
the process. 

While still wet the basin is charged with charcoal and an active fire 
kindled, the silver is then introduced and lead added till all is melted 
and red hot. Two large logs of firewood are then placed over the 
charcoal so as to form a dome to the heap, and at the interstices torch- 
like pieces of wood are continually introduced, so that a powerful flame 
is reverberated from the blazing dome above. 

By this manipulation the lead is oxidized, and the oxyde of lead 
(litharge) formed is absorbed with the oxides of copper, and other base 
metals usually present, by the porous mixture of lime and ashes. None 
of the litharge is removed by skimming. In refining 2500 tola wt.* from 
16 “worse” they use 1200 tolas of lead, and the operation is completed in 
less than 3 hours, yielding a cake of silver 16 to 17 dwt. “ better” than 
standard. The bazar refiners contract to return all the silver according 

* The tola is 180 Troy grains. 32 tolas =one Troy pound. 


: D 


560 On the Refinage of understandard Silver. [ JUNE, 


to official assay ; and finding all materials, they receive for their labour 
8 annas, or 4 per 100 on the value of the metal. The cake of litharge 
when cold is ground and sifted and yields granules of silver. The 
sifted powder is made into a paste with cow-dung, and the lead recover- 
ed in a furnace of particularly ingenious and effective construction—of 
which the following is a sufficient description. 

A barrel-shaped clay cylinder is made, open at both ends, nine inches 
diameter below by 12 to 15 above, and usually 24 inches high, A 
bellows pipe of refractory clay 3 inches in diameter enters at the side 
about 4 inches from the top, and is led down the cylinder so that the 
nozzle of the pipe is within six inches of the bottom. The cylinder 
stands over a cup-shaped hollow made in the ground and sifted over 
with a little wood ashes. To use this furnace it is first half filled with 
charcoal and the fire kindled. The mixture of litharge and cow-dung 
is then introduced in balls the size of an orange, with layers of charcoal 
and the fire urged. The litharge is quickly reduced to the metallic 
state, and the lead containing any silver present in solution, collects in 
the cup-shaped hollow—100 Tbs of litharge can be thus worked off in 
about t hours. This process is applied with remarkable success to the 
treatment of sweepings and other rubbish containing not more than 
1 per 100 to 2 per 100 of silver, but in this case a small and variable 
quantity of borax is added to the mass of litharge, sweepings and ‘cow- 
dung. ) 

The basin below the cylinder is open at one side, but during the 
process is kept partially closed by a heap of charcoal and a brick. This 
being removed occasionally, the surface of the melted lead is raked 
free from earthy slags by an iron rod, and the firing is continued till 
the balls are all consumed. The cylinder is then removed, water 
thrown on the lead—and this containing silver, is used for the next 
cupellation refinage. 

The skill exhibited by the native refiners in conducting these processes — 
is beyond all praise, and for the scale on which they have to operate, 
it would, I conceive, be scarcely practicable to effect any improvement 
on their system. But it has serious inconveniences when we attempt 
to follow it in large operations. Each operation is limited to about 2500 
tola wt. and this may be repeated, so as to give 5000 as the day’s work 
of 6 men. The heat is almost intolerable, the Jead fumes most dele- 


1847.] On the Refinage of understandard Silver, Sb 


terious. These objections might be obviated by the erection of suita- 
ble screens and hoods, but the refinage never proceeds so successfully 
as when the native operator is left to his own fashion. Superintendence 
and the prevention of pilfering become exceedingly difficult also when 
a large quantity of bullion has to be operated on, from the great num- 
ber of people employed, the large space occupied by each gang, and the 
dense smoke and fumes which fill the refinery. 

In the new mint there are three cupellation furnaces by Maudslay, 
constructed on the most approved plan, and in which the operation 
could be carried on very effectively and economically were it practica- 
ble to work the furnaces continuously, night and day ; but as all work 
must terminate in the mint and the fires be extinguished daily at 4 
p.m., the furnaces are quite useless. At best no more than 3000 tola 
weight of silver can be refined in each daily, but with such wasteful 
expenditure of fuel as to render the operation much more costly than 
the charge of the native refiners. 

The cursory description above given suffices to explain the object I 
_ had in view in attempting, towards the close of 1845, to effect the refi- 
nage of silver in large, indeed, I may say immense quantities, and to 
conduct the operation so that the mass of bullion acted upon should 
be brought into a malleable state, and safely stored, within a period of 
six ‘or seven hours. How effectually this has been accomplished is 
shown in the sequel of this paper. 

My process is based on the old French system of the poussée or salt- 
petre refinage. This I witnessed in the Laboratory of my friends, Messrs. 
Johnson and Cock, the eminent refiners in London, and it is minutely 
described in the works of Dumas and Berthier. The silver to be refin- 
ed is granulated, the granules mixed with one-tenth their weight of fine 
saltpetre, and projected gradually into a redhot EARTHEN crucible. The 
nitre oxydizes the base metals, having but little effect on the silver— 
when the mass has become red hot the fire is urged till the silver is 
melted ; the whole is then poured into ingot moulds; and the scorie, 
consisting of potash, oxides of copper, lead and other base metals, with 
granules of silver and oxide of silver in* considerable quantity, are reserv- 
ed for subsequent treatment by methods varying according to cireum- 
stances afterwards explained. 

The practical drawback to this system as it existed previous to my 
experiments, was the supposed necessity of using earthen crucibles. 


4p2 


562 On the Refinage of understandard Silver. [ JUNE, 


This at onee limited each batch to some 301bs weight of metal, or about 
1000 tolas, and where we had to deal with tons and laes its adoption 
seemed hopeless. It occurred to me however, to make trial of the ordi- 
nary cast-iron melting pots of the mint, and I soon found to my great 
satisfaction that by a little management these could be used with com- 
plete success. The object in view was accordingly gained to the fullest 
extent required, and in September, 1846, this system of refinage was 
applied in one working-day (the 4th Sept.) to the very large quantity of 
188,264 tola wt. of coarse silver—Troy pounds 5,883, value Co.’s Rs. 
172,860 10 2, or £17,286 ls. 3d. which was refined and returned 
to the mint im bright malleable ingots, and registered for assay in 
less than six hours from the commencement of the operation. I believe I 
am justified in asserting that in point of rapidity, economy and quantity, 
this day’s refinage has never been equalled in any refining establishment 
in any part of the world. I now proceed to the detailed description of 
the process—its expenses and total results. | 

The cast-iron silver melting pots used in the mint, are of cylindrical 
shape, with round bottoms, 17 inches external height, 114 inches, inter- 
nal diameter, 14 inch thickness of metal. The quantity of silver usually 
melted in each pot is 10,000 tola wt. or 3125 Troy pounds. If the 
silver to be refined is in the state of coin the operation may be com- 
menced at once. Ifin bars or other solid masses it must be granulated. 
For this purpose about 8000 tola wt. are melted and poured from the 
pot placed on a suitable frame over a tank of water, beneath the surface 
of which two or three brooms are kept in constant motion. This 
reduces the silver to granules like small shot. 

6000 tola wt. of understandard coins or granules are placed in 
each iron pot, and heated to low redness in the ordinary melting fur- 
nace, of which there are 16 in the mint. When at a low red heat the 
mass of silver is hollowed out with an iron rod with flattened end, so 
as to make a funnel-shaped depression of the metal in the centre. 
About 2 pounds weight of saltpetre are thrown into this hollow. The 
saltpetre rapidly melting percolates through the granules or coins, and, 
as it filters through parts with its oxygen to the base metals. After a 
few minutes the fireman with the same rod stirs up the silver from 
the bottom of the pot and works it in every direction, again cupping 
the centre as before. The heat is slightly urged and the saltpetreing is 


1847. | On the Refinage of understandard Silver. 563 


repeated in the same manner, until from 5 to 7 seers (10 to 141s) are 
used, the quantity being determined by the coarseness of the silver. 
In half an hour from the beginning the whole mass of metal becomes 
pasty, and when pressed towards the bottom of the pot coher@s ina 
mass upon which there floats a very liquid scum, composed of melted 
potash and litharge with some oxide of copper and a little oxide of 
silver in solution. This liquid scum is skimmed off with an iron ladle, 
and when as much is removed as is practicable, the pot is covered and 
the fire run up by the register to a degree somewhat higher than that 
usually given in silver meltings, and which experience can alone teach. 

In about half an hour the silver is found to be quite melted, its sur- 
face being covered with thick but loose and dry crusts of oxide of copper. 
It is now ready for pouring, and a piece of coke being placed across 
the lip of the pot, the refined silver is cast in ingots in the usual man- 
ner, without any of the dry scorize entering the moulds. The ingots 
when cool are perfectly clean and bright, and fit in every respect for 
delivery in the Bullion department, to be registered for assay. 

On the 4th of September 1846, this process was, as above stated, 
performed on silver to the value of Co.’s Rs. 172,860 10 2,—£17,286 
ls. 3d. sterling. At 83 a. M. the fires were lighted in the 16 furnaces. At 
92 A.M. thesilver (consisting of Nanashaye rupees, average 18 worse 
than standard, and containing about 4 dwts. of lead per tb.) in the state 
of coin was charged into the pots—at 10 a. M. the saltpetreing was com- 
menced—by 113 the first pot was poured off, and all sixteen by 4 
past 12. The pots were replaced in the furnaces, charged once more and 
' by 23 p. M. the refined silver again poured off. The refined bars were 
returned to the mint. The subsequent assays showed some of the pots 
to have been refined to 13 dwts. better, and the whole silver return- 
ed averaged 5 “better.” All the ingots without exception were soft and 
malleable and fit for alligation. 

When the scoriee and sweepings were subsequently worked up, and 
the account closed, it was found to stand as follows : 


Value of silver delivered to be refined Co.’s Rs...:.. 172,860.10) 2 
Returned refined ‘silver, value, ....1......0...0+» ««  1/2,488:.. 10,.3 


Lose van b4D, 11 


564 On the Refinage of understandard Silver. [ JUNE, 


Being three annas and five pie per cent. in value, or about 3th per 100, 
which was found by experiment to be the mere loss on melting this 
kind of silver. 

From the 9th of October 1845, to the present time, May 1847, I 
have refined in this manner coarse and brittle silver to the value of over 
ten lacs of rupees 100,000; of the Jaloun silver alone there were 
refined in 1846 Rs. 882,510 11 8. In one operation about Rs. 50,000 
worth of silver, containing over 30 per 100 of /ead was thus treated, and 
the resulting ingots, though 40 to 50 dwt. worse than our standard, were 
cured of brittleness and rendered fit for alligation for coin. 

From these numerous and large trials it results that when the salt- 
petreing is managed in the mode I have described, the iron vessel is 
entirely uninjured. In fact the saltpetre has become inert before it 
touches the side or bottom of the pot. Accordingly the same pot has 
in many instances been used more than six times over, and after this 
has borne the average number of common meltings, as shown by the 
official report of Mr. Casperz the melter to the mint. 


Treatment of the Scorie. 


This part of the operation is done at leisure, and on its careful and 
precise management depends the economy of the process. 

The scorize well mixed together may be represented as composed of 
fused potash, oxides of copper and base metals, granules of metallic 
silver with oxide of silver, and a minute quantity of chloride of silver. 

The mass is first bruized in iron mortars and steeped in water for 
two days in a leaden tub, the water then drained off and replaced, and 
this repeated a second time. The potash is thus dissolved out, the 
mass disintegrated and rendered pulpy, and its oxide of silver reduced 
to the metallic state. It is now in successive portions rubbed in iron 
mortars, and sieved on fine cane or bamboo sieves floating on water in 
the leaden tub. The pulp of oxides passes through, and nearly all the 
silver in granules remains on the sieve. This silver only needs to be 
melted and returned. 

The oxides, with finely divided metallic silver, metallic copper, and 
chloride of silver, after settling to the bottom of the tub, and the water 
decanted or syphoned off, are placed on dry tiles, which soon absorb 
the moisture; of this mass from 4 to 5 ewt. weight are placed in a 
reverberatory furnace and caleined at a low red heat for four hours. 


1847. | On the Refinage of understandard Silver. 565 


This converts the metallic copper into oxide of copper. When cool 
the mass is boiled, 100 ths. at a time, in a leaden boiler, for about an 
hour, with 40tbs of sulphuric acid and 200 ths of water. Most of the 
copper is thus recovered in the state of sulphate of copper solution, 
which is poured off into tanks to crystallize. What is undissolved by 
the acid is tile-dried, and a small portion, about ten tola weight, of the 
residue melted for trial. If the trial ingot is malleable and soft the 
whole mass may now be melted into ingots to close the account. For 
although these ingots will be much worse than standard, they are free 
from lead and devoid of brittleness, and consequently fit for alligation. 
On the other hand if the trial ingot be brittle the mass should be again 
roasted and treated with sulphuric acid as before. And according to 
the original quality of the silver this may need three such operations. 

In refining 100,000 Rs. value of such understandard coin, about 
90,000 Rs. value will be returned at once refined above standard—5000 
will be found in granules—4000 to 5000 will be recovered by roasting 
and by sulphuric acid, and from 500 to 1,000 will remain as chloride 
of silver and very finely divided metallic silver, which is slowly depo- 
sited from the sulphate of copper liquid, as awhite slime or mud, con- 
sisting of the chlorides of silver, copper and lead, sulphate of lead and 
metallic silver. This mud is tile-dried and treated as follows :— 

100 parts by weight are well mixed with 50 of dried carbonate of 
soda, and 20 of powdered charcoal, the mixture melted in black lead 
pots and poured into conical moulds—on cooling a mass of lead 
containing all the silver is found at the point of each cone. This lead 
usually contains 20 to 25 per 100 of silver, and the precious metal is 
extracted by cupellation. The quantity of argentiferous lead to be 
cupelled from the refinage of 100,000 tolas of silver will range from 
2000 to 4000 tola weight. If black lead pots are not available this 
part of the operation may be conducted successfully in the native 
cylinder furnace above described, merely substituting cow-dung for the 
charcoal, and mixing the mass into balls. 

By careful attention to the above description no failure or difficulty 
need be dreaded in large silver refinages. The advantages of the process 
may be briefly summed up—rapidity, economy, salubrity and safety of 
the bullion. Before this method was introduced in the Calcutta mint 


the refinage of silver to the value of a lac of rupees was the work 


066 On the Refinage of understandard Silver. [Jung, 


of six weeks to two months. It can now be effected in four hours. 
The sulphate of copper removed in clearing up the scorize is in another 
department of the mint brought to yield the copper it contains in an 
absolutely pure state, so enhanced in value that it sells for 44 Rs. the 
maund of 100 Troy pounds, and thus pays for the saltpetre, acid, fuel, 
wages of workmen and melting losses. The poisonous fumes of the lead 
eupellation are avoided—and the rapidity with which 95 per 100 of 
the bullion is returned to the mint strong room, being taken there 
directly from the furnace, reduces the risk of loss by pilfering to an insig- 
nificant amount. The importance of this can only be estimated by 
those who may have to manipulate large quantities of bullion with 
native workmen and overseers, under whose care silver is apt to acquire 
the volatility of mercury, and disappear in a way that would appal a 
refiner only accustomed to the habits of the metal in European 
establishments. Against this cause of loss experience teaches me there 
is no safeguard but the concentration of the processes under the 
director’s eye, the employment of the smallest possible number of per- 
sons in the manipulation, and the return of the bullion under refinage 
with the least avoidable delay. 
[ Assay of silver. ] 

In the commencement of this paper I alluded to our silver standard, 
and to my desire to afford a few useful hints to officers having bullion 
transactions with native states. Vast sums are annually paid in native 
coinages of almost innumerable variety, of which the Nanashaye and 
Balashaye rupees of Jaloun and the Deb-mohree rupees of Assam may 
be cited as examples. It may be confidently stated that whatever be 
the nominal fineness of these coins, the practice of the native mints is 
to debase as much as possible, and their workmen are moreover well 
acquainted with all the arts of pickling and blanching, hot stamping, &c. 
which give the debased coin a most respectable surface. Some ready 
method of assay, not affecting to be exact, but one closely approxima- 
tive, would, I have been often assured, be deemed of much utility to 
many public officers in the transactions referred to. Such a method I 
take this opportunity to describe, prefixing a few words on the exact 
systems of assay followed in the mints. 

In the English and Indian mints the ancient process of cupellation 
is followed. Through the great kindness of my friend, Mr. Dodd, the 


1847.] On the Refinage of urderstandard Selves. 5a? 


present Assay Master, I have been enabled to convince myself that in 
skilful and conscientious hands this method ensures all the accuracy 
which is required in the operations of the mint and for commercial 
purposes. Its range of error will not exceed 2 parts in 1000, and be 
still within the deviation permitted by the law with reference to the 
impossibility of ensuring an exact mathematical alloy in all minting 
operations. But this system of assay demands the appliance of so 
much skill and such cumbrous apparatus that to the experimentalist 
«in the jungle” it affords no resource. 

The French method, by solution in nitric acid and precipitation of 
the silver as chloride by common salt, is only applicable where the 
silver under assay is alloyed with copper only. If it contain lead, 
mercury, tin or iron, the results are fallacious. I enter upon no details, 
as Tam not addressing these remarks to assayers. It is enough to 
say that the solution becomes so milky from the presence of chloride 
of lead, calomel, or peroxide of tin, that it is impossible to see and note 
correctly when the proper quantity of the salt test-liquor has been added ; 
or on the other hand, if the experimentalist desires to weigh the preci- 
pitate, he is liable to be deceived by the quantity of insoluble chlorides 
of base metals united with that of silver. 

I pass therefore to another and a ready resource, which only requires 
a Florence flask or two and a little nitric acid for its performance, and 
by which the experimentalist may proceed as follows :— 

Weigh 24 grains of the silver to be examined, and dissolve it by 
means of one fluid drachm of pure nitric acid, about sp. gr. 1350, and 
half an ounce (fluid) of rain or distilled water. When dissolved dilute the 
fluid to two ounces with distilled water and introduce a clean slip of 
pure copper. Boil the contents of the flask over a lamp or on a pan 
of sand over a charcoal fire, so long as silver is deposited on the 
copper, and until a fresh slip of copper introduced is not tarnished— 
then let the liquid settle, decant the blue liquid, replace with water, 
decant once more, placing the thumb on the mouth of the flask 
invert it and let the silver escape upon a small China saucer—let the 
moisture drain off and dry the silver thoroughly over the hot sand. 
Weigh it now in your medicine chest scales, which ought to turn fairly to 
jisth of a grain or less. Now if your silver be the Company’s standard, 
the 24 grains (= to 24.00) should give you 22.00. An English shilling 

4k 


268 Observations on the Ovis dimmonoides of Hodyson. (JUNE, 


should give 22.20; an old Sicca rupee 22.15,—each tenth ofa grain 
being the equivalent of one dwt. If more than 22.00, the silver is 
better, if less than 22.00, it is worse than our standard. But the 
silver obtained in this experiment is usually somewhat heavier than it 
should be, being associated with a little copper. The error is nearly 
compensated by the slight loss in the manipulation, and moreover it 
does not amount to more than one dwt. of excess. This may be safely 
allowed for, and the extempore assayer may rest satisfied that he knows 
the true value of his silver within] per 100. Thus for example, he 
dissolves 24 grains of a Debmohree rupee, and he finds his dry silver 
weighs 13 grs. Itis therefore 9.0 grs. (or 90 dwt.) worse than 22 ers. 
which should be the standard. Now as 24.0:: 13.0:: 100:: 54.16, 
or 100 tolas of this silver contain fine silver 54.16 = 59.08 Co.’s Rs. 
But if an error had occurred increasing the weight of the silver preci- 
pitate to 13,20 the per centage of fine silver would be 55.00+-, 4. alloy 
==to Co.’s Rs. 60, the difference being 0.84 per 100 on the fine silver, 
or 9-10ths of a rupee. But in the transactions to which these remarks 
bear reference an error of even one per 100 at either side is of but 
insignificant importance, the object being merely to obtain a good ap- 
proximation, not an absolutely correct result. 

The use of puze copper is essential for this simple process, inasmuch 
as the impurities of the metal usually met with may lead to very 
deceptive results. I shall be happy to supply any reader of this paper 
with electrotype copper in sufficient quantity to enable him to try his — 
skill as an amateur assayer—for pure nitric acid | must refer him to 
the Hon. Company’s Dispensary, or to any of the eminent Calcutta 


druggists. 


v 


ANA 


Observations on the Ovis Ammonoides of Hongson, by Capt. T. 
Hurron, F. G. 8S. 


Having lately procured a pair of skins of the (so called) “ Ovis 
Ammonoides” of Hodgson, and as the specimens are both in winter 
pelage, as indicated by the beautifully soft wool under the hair, it may 
be interesting to compare the description of them with that lately 
published by Mr. Hodgson, in the Journal Asiatic Society, No. 173. 
of 1846, 


1847.| Observations on the Ovis Ammonordes of Hodgson. 56§ 


“* Ovis Ammon’? ? Pallas. vel. ‘‘O. Ammonoides,” Hodgson. The 
** Nian’’ or “ Nyan’’ of the Bhoteahs.—(Pronounced nasally in one syl- 


lable.) ; 


Measurement of a male of five years, according to the markings on 


the horns ; 


ft. ims. 
Prom noseito;base of horns, ooo. 4 Hea ee OP) 
‘Thence to insertion of tail, .............. al | 
terest Offi, 52 doe eR ae ei Oe 
Total,. . Gaz 5 

ft. ims. 
Circumference of horn at base, ...... hi s42 
Length on the curve, .............. 2 104, tips broken. 


Winter pelage ; above deep brown interspersed with grey, with a 
distinctly marked darker dorsal line, passing, (as in O. montana) in a 
narrow stripe through the disc on the croup, even to the tip of the tail. 
Sides mixed hoary or slatey grey brown; dise on the croup well defined 
and dirty white, the hair appearing as if rubbed. The throat and neck 
beneath to the breast, white, sprinkled with scattered brown hairs; the 
hair long, bushy and pendent; and from 6 to 7 inches in length, while 
that of the back is barely 2 inches, except on the dorsal line, where it is 
3 inches, and on the ridge of the neck above 33 inches. Tail, above, 
brown ; whitish at the sides, naked beneath. Under parts dirty white ; 
medial line blackish ; outside of the limbs with a dark list ; lips, whitish ; 
face, paler brown than the body. 


Beont;surtace-of horus, > «0... 0 <<.» +/. «»», 39 Inches, wide. 
Inmevr lateral: surface, iy. 4.8 ..2.t5 .).2.-¢5-0<...>../,6, inches wide. 


Measurement of the bare skull of a male 7 years old ; 


ft. ims 
Pee u OL dave to base Ol horus, yo... ey Ld 
Mievea Gt Nor OTF Uie-CUEVe, . 2... .. ss ses - s e 
eee ANUILCR ONCE ee. c's es ages gd es eee ae pL meas 


These horns are weathered and much broken at the tips, and were 
prebably about 3 ft. 3 inches long. 


570 Observations on the Ovis Ammonoides of Hodgson. (June, 


Description of a female, 6 years old by the marking of the horns ; 


ft. ims. 
Nose to-base of horns, ci: oj. Li cenit 
Thence to insertion of tail, .............. 4 5 
TEE: ohh < ce ai a cee Race wim ie g chk ah ae ee a 
Total, . 5D 63 
ft. ims. 
Length of horns on the eurve,............ 1 42 
Basal circumference, . me, ages it, age Te 


In the female the samples is lighter shia that of the male, having 
more grey ; and the throat and foreneck are slatey instead of white, and 
devoid of the long pendent frill which graces the other sex; the dark 
dorsal line, which in the male runs in a narrow stripe through the pale 
disc, ends in the female at the commencement of the disc, and the tail 
and croup are of the same canescent fawn colour ; the dise is far more — 
extensive than that of the male. Along the ridge of the neck above, 
from the base of the horns to about 10 inches beyond them, there is a 
mane of true woolly hair 64 inches long, gradually fading into the crisp 
quilly hair of the dorsal line. There is no dark list down the outside 
of the limbs, but the colour is pale fawn. 


ins. 
Front surface of homes, . ..j0..). 64.2.0 alee 1 ee 
Inner lateral surface, ........... wij a 6) a Imehese 


In both sexes there is a besantatil soft i inner coating of fine push- 
meena wool of a pale mouse colour. 

The height of the animals I have not given, as the limbs are defective 
in my specimens, 

The above measurements were taken with care, and although my 
male appears somewhat superior in size to Mr. Hodgson’s, the general 
correspondence is evident enough. 


ft, ins. ft. ins, 
Mr. Hodgson’s male over allis,.... > Op 114. cimines WGnc5 
Ditto ditto to base of horns,............ 1 O ditto. ily ah 
Ditto ditto basal circumference, ......... 1 34 ditto 1 42 
Mr. Hodgson’s female overall, ........ 5 63 mine 5 62 
Ditto ditto to base of horns,............ 0 11 ditto 0 104 
Ditto ditto basal circumference, ) ditto 0 8 


1847.| Observations on the Ovis Ammonoides of Hodgson. ay | 


This species appears to differ from ‘‘ Ovis montana’ of America, in 
having the hair on the throat elongated into a pendent fringe, while in 
the latter species, as described in Griffith’s Synopsis, it is distinctly 
stated that there are “ no long hairs under the throat.’ Dr. Richardson 
(as quoted by Mr. Blyth in No. 35, J. A. S. for 1841) states in speak- 
ing of the Rocky Mountain Sheep, that “as the ends of the hairs (in 
which the colour resides) are gradually rubbed off during the progress 
of the winter, the tints become paler, and the old rams are thus almost 
white in the spring.” In the male specimen before me, this could not 
take place, for the colouring instead of being confined “to the ends of 
the hairs,” pervades them, though less intensely, to the base, and the 
animal by rubbing would assume a slatey grey hue, except on the 
throat, disc, and belly, where it would be white. In the American 
species again, the tail is said to be 5 inches Jong, whereas in the Thibe- 
tan animal it is only 3 inches, and the length from nose to tail appears 
to be superior to that of “ O. montana.” 

On the other hand it would appear to agree very well with the de- 
scriptions of “ Ovis dmmon,” except, that Col. H. Smith states, that 
the female of that species wants the disc on the croup, while in my 
specimens the pale disc of the female is larger and more conspicuous 
than in the male. 

Secondly, in the Synopsis, the horns are said fo touch on the fore- 
head, while in Mr. Hodgson’s description they are 4th of an inch apart, 
and in my specimen they are $th of an inch apart ;—in the bare skull 
they are 14 inches apart. This character however is nullified in the 
text, where it is said that they are ‘‘ nearly touching.” 

Thirdly, it is stated that the horns of “0. Ammon’ have “ the 
broadest side towards the forehead,’ and if this means towards the 
front, as I suppose it does, then it would seem to prove that our animal 
is distinct from O. Ammon, inasmuch as its horns have the narrowest 
side to the front,—the base of the triangle being 34 inches, and the 
inner side 6 inches wide! “ O. Ammon’’ is likewise said to be ‘‘ nearly 
five feet in length,’’—whereas the Bhotan species is more than 6 feet 
in length ! 

Unless therefore these published characters of O. Ammon can be 
satisfactorily proved to be incorrect, it would appear that Mr. Hodgson 
has good and sufficient grounds for declaring the two animals to be 


72 The Hispid Hare of the Saul forest. [JuNE, 


C31 


distinct, and therefore for establishing his “ Ovis Ammonoides.” The 
point can only be determined by those who may have the opportunity 
ef comparing specimens of both. 


MIYIIYIIPIIPUIVIPPPDAL ALVA, AAA ARN 


On the Hispid Hare of the Saul forest.— By B. H. Hoveson, Esq. 


Lepus hispidus. Pearson. 

Caprolagus hispidus. Blyth. 

Habitat, The great forest at the base of the Sub-Hima- 
layas and of their offsets, from Gorakpur to Tipperah. 

Having been recently so fortunate as to obtain a fine living pair of 
the Hispid Hare of the Saul forest, together with some trustworthy 
information about the habits and location of the species, I purpose to 
give the results of my examination and inquiries to the Society, the 
animal being extremely rare, and moreover being one of those species 
the right understanding of which, in relation to its congeners, is calcu- 
lated to throw light upon the difficult question of the true nature and 
limits of generic aggregations. 

The sub-Himalayas and that portion of their south-eastern continua- 
tion dividing the basins of the Irawadi and of the lower Bruhmaputra, 
are accompanied all the way from the point where the Ganges intersects 
them to the sea, by a vast forest which forms their skirt towards the 
plains of Hindostan and Bengal. This forest, which is one of the largest 
and most unbroken in the world, having a breadth or depth of from 10 
to 20 and even 30 miles throughout its extended course of some 1500 
miles, and being inhabited only in spots here and there, is one of the 
most important features of the Geography of India for the zoologist, 
owing to the number of animals that are now peculiar to it, because 
they have found probably in its immense malarious recesses a last refuge 
from the gradual encroachments of man. Swainson observes that there 
are no forests or tenants of the forest like those of the new world: but 
those who have followed the Gaur and Elephant, the Arna and Rhino- 
ceros, the Samber and Barasinga though the ‘Saul forest’ as. above 
defined, have felt little disposition to acquiesce in that remark. The 
popular designation of Saul forest is derived from the prevalence of that 


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1847. | Phe Hispid Hare of the Saul forest. 573 


stately and valuable timber tree (Shorea robusta) throughout the tract 
in question, except near the sea, where it is replaced by the Teak, which 
may be aptly denominated tie pelagic saul. 

This primeval forest is the peculiar and exclusive habitat of the 
Hispid Hare, a species that never ventures into the open plains on the 
one hand, or mto the mountains on the other; and hence it is so little 
known, deep cover and deadly malaria contributing alike to its happy © 
obscurity. As the black-necked Hare or Nigricollis is the single spe- 
eies of the Deccan, and the Red tail Ruficaudata of Hindosthan and 
Bengal, so is the Hispid of the vast sub-Himalayan forest; and it is 
remarkable that the mountains beyond the forest, even up to the per- 
petual snows, have no peculiar species, the Red tail of the plains being 
alone found there. Two specimens only of the Hispid Hare are yet on 
record.* These were obtained respectively on the banks of the Tista 
and in Assam. My two were got near the Cosi, and recently. Previ- 
ously I had never obtained a specimen, though I have often heard of 
and even seen the animal as far west as the Gandac, and information 
on which I ean rely convinces me that the species extends, within the 
saul forest, as far westerly as Gorakpur, and as far east and south as 
Assam and Tipperah. The Hispid Hare is a habitual burrower, like the 
Rabbit ; but, unlike that species, it is not gregarious, and affects deep. 
eover, the pair dwelling together, but apart from their fellows, in sub- 
terranean abodes of their own excavation, and having, it 1s supposed,. 
two or three broods in the year, consisting of one or two young each» 
time. less highly endowed with the senses of seeing and hearing. 
than the common hare or rabbit, and gifted with speed far inferior to 
that of the former or even of the latter species, the Hispid Hare is. 
dependant for safety upon the double concealment afforded by the 
heavy undergrowth of the forest and by its own burrow, and accordingly 
it never quits the former shelter, and seldom wanders far from the 
latter, whilst the harsh hair of its coat aifords it an appropriate and 
unique protection against continual necessary contact with the huge and 
serrated grasses, reeds and shrubs in the midst of which it dwells, and: 
dwells so securely that it is seldom or never seen even by the natives, 
save for a short period after the great annual clearance of the Tarai by 

fire. The Meeches, to whom I am indebted for my specimens, call the 


* Sporting Magazine, August, 1834. Asiatic Journal No. 160 of 1845. 


574 On the Hispid Hare of the Saul forest. (JUNE, 


animal the Black Hare or Saul forest Hare, both excellent names—and 
they tell me that it feeds chiefly on roots and the bark of trees, a cireum- 
stance as remarkably in harmony with the extraordinary rodent power 
of its structure as are its small eyes and ears, weighty body and short 
strong legs, with what has been just stated relative the rest of its habits. 
The whole forms a beautiful instance of adaptation without the slightest 
change of organism; for neither in the hard nor soft anatomy of the 
forest Hare is there the least essential deviation from those of the Hare 
of the open country, but only a modification of the same type suited to 
the peculiar life of each, as respective tenants of the open and culti- 
vated country and of the rude and dense wild. Why the Hare of the 
plains, and not that of the forest, should pass into the mountains, 
apparently so much better suited to the latter species, we cannot con- 
jecture: and, though this fact is an argument in favour of considering 
the Hispid or forest Hare as a separate type—an argument that may be 
yet further sustained by those differences in external form which very 
noticeably segregate it from the common Hares of England and of 
Hindosthan (Timidus and Ruficaudatus), yet, on the other hand, its 
essential anatomical identity with these animals, and the manner in 
which the marked diversity of external form just noticed, as well as 
other peculiarities of habit above recorded, are gradually lost as we pass 
to other species of true Hare, are arguments of weight against any 
generic or sub-generie separation. In the Timid and red-tailed Hares 
the long ears, the large eyes, the frame as well suited to extreme speed 
as the eyes and ears to effective vigilance, are certainly in remarkable 
contrast with the small eyes and ears, heavy frame and short equal legs 
of the forest hare: but all these distinctions, as well as those of domi- 
cile, become less and less tangible in the variable Hare, the Rabbit, the 
Tolai, and the Tapiti,* in which moreover we have variously repro- 
duced, even to the subordinate peculiarities of the Indian forest Hare, 
such as its white flesh, its short tail, its subterranean retreat and 
creeping adhesion thereto, so unlike the dashing career of the red- 
tailed and English species. With these few remarks upon the pro- 
priety or otherwise of separating the Hispid Hare from his congeners, 
{ now proceed to what will more fully illustrate that point, viz. a 


* See Shaw, Vol. II. voce Tolai and Regne animal ad locum and Naturalist’s 
Library, Vol. xiii, Pl. 28. 


Met ae! a 


1847.| On the Hispid Hare of the Saul forest. D7) 


careful description of my specimens. They consist of a male and 
female of mature, or advanced age rather, and they were taken toge- 
ther, when in full fur in February. They were very impatient of con- 
finement and died very soon, owing to injuries inflicted on themselves 
by vain attempts at escape. I describe them as they lie before me, 
dead, with fine specimens of the common hare and rabbit beside them. 
The sexes are as near as possible of the same size and colour; but, if 
anything, the male is rather the larger and darker. The male mea- 
sures 192 inches from snout to vent—head to the occiput, 4 ; ears to the 
lobe 27; to the crown 23; foreleg from elbow to end of longest toe 
nail 48. Hindleg from true knee to longest nail 74. Planta from heel 
to long toe-nail 32; heel to knee 47; scut only 12; scut and hair 
22; weight 53 lbs. The female is 19 inches long and 51 lbs. Both 
have a girth behind the shoulder of 12 inches: but the female’s 
tail is the longer, being 2 inches, or 3 with the fur. Her other propor- 
tions are almost identical with the male’s. Compared with the common 
species, which lies beside them as I write, these animals are conspicu- 
ously of darker hue and heavier make, but not larger. They have 
heavier heads, much shorter ears, smaller eyes, shorter tails, limbs 


shorter, stronger and less unequal—in that respect like a rabbit—and, 


lastly, their mystaccal tufts are much less, and their fur much harsher. 
Looking closer into their structure it is observable that the profile of 
the head is less curved in the Hispid than in the common species, the 
nails somewhat larger, and the digits slightly different in gradation, the 
thumb in particular being less withdrawn and the little finger more so, 
from the front, in Hispidus. But the nails have no peculiarity of con- 
formation and se far from being “‘ very acute,” they are very blunt and 
worn. The nose and lips agree precisely with those of the common 


‘species: but the eye is conspicuously smaller and placed less back- 
wards, or midway between the snout and ears. The ears both in male 


and female considerably exceed one half of the length of the head, and 
are broader as well as shorter than in Ruficaudatus or Timidus; and 
it is remarkable that the tail in the male is shorter than in the female 
—in both more so than in Timidus. The teats are six, two pectoral, 
and four ventral, just as in Ruficaudatus ; and the sculls and teeth of 
the two species are framed upon precisely the same model, general and 
particular, with this only and striking difference that the skull of the 
4 ¥F 


576 On the Hispid Hare of the Saul forest. (JUNE, 


forest Hare possesses greater strength and solidity with proportional 
augmentation of the teeth, but especially of the incisors. The skull is 
rather higher but scarcely so long as in the red-tail. It is also less 
curved along the culmenal line: the nasal bones are shorter yet more 
advanced to the front: the solutions of continuity im the bone of the 
cheeks and palate are smaller; the alce of the frontals less developed, 
and the frontals consequently not sunk between them as in the common 
Hare and Rabbit: lastly, the groove im front of the upper incisors is 
continued to their cutting edge so as to notch it. But with all these 
minute diversities there is a remarkably perfect conformity to one model 
of conformation even in minutiz. So too in the internal viscera of the 
two species, though here the disparity appears somewhat greater and 
more material, for the intestinal canal of Hispidus is much shorter, the 
difference being, however, compensated in the greater size of the coecum 
and of that portion of the intestine which resembles the cecum. The 
stomach also exhibits a greater tumidity and thickening near the pylo- 
ric orifice, where there is less of these features, or, instead of them, 
merely a syphonic bend, in the red-tail and rabbit. The particulars of 
the viscera are set down in the sequel in figures, and I have only further 
to remark that the bicornate uterus, which in my specimen was unim- 
pregnated—has precisely the character of the same organ in the red- 
tail; and that the diversity of the other viscera is the less important 
im as much as several individuals of the same species are apt to show 
much inequality in this respect, as I have proof before me in regard to 
the common Hare and Rabbit. With reference to the nature and colours 
of the fur in the common and forest species, how striking soever the 
differences at first sight appear, they diminish on closer inspection, for 
the structure of the hair is exactly the same in both, only with greater 
thickness and consequent strength in Hispidus; and the hues and’ 
their distribution into rings are surprisingly alike, with these differences 
merely that the rufous tints are deeper toned or browner; and that the 
dark shading is deeper and fuller, in Hispidus, owing chiefly to the 
greater abundance of the longer and wholly dark portion of the hairy 
piles. I have examined the hair and fur, both as to form and colours, 
with great care; and the above is the result. The general effect may 
be said to be that the Hispid Hare, as to colour, is of a dark or iron- 
grey with the ruddy-tinge embrowned, and the limbs shaded outside, 
hike the body, with black, instead of being unmixed rufous. 


1847.] Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.”’ 577 


Dimensions of Male. Female. 
BEEEERIOR EN tre tied, Gh Taine Jey adr 7B E78 7 
Beeerovoeciput,: id loctdone. aides tea 4 0 4 
Pavenbest\ depthy ial h o..201 gk 20 oe 0 2 0 28 
meboiamewey! 20872 OE OS 2 One? 
Thence to base of ear, 2.300005 ...400.0 023 0 23 
Bewtivem antealsbaséy.. 02.6.2 0. ev. Soe Old 0 22 
From:crown of head, .......4.<..%. 0 23 0 23 
Foreleg, elbow to long toe-nail,.......... 0 42 QO 42 
Stasimasandsnatls;} peeks. bora. since > Oe 2 Div 
Hind leg, knee to end toe-nail, .......... 0. 74 0 7 
Knee to os caleis; 4: ...00.....0 42 QO 42 
Osicaleis:to toe-nailsat.. aes. 2 0. 34 0 32 
iaaiihrot ehest{o. vigvews oe ester dey 1 0 
ERG Woke hrs ats be etwas oo ihe Abed s 54lbs. 541bs. 
Length of Intestines. 
SMALL. GREAT. Cacum. 
bares Saae Miswwere ..). e ey Sedo 2 4 8 1 82 
Meme te Aboot <6 eo fies 4 5G ) 10 


The ccecum is 24 to 23 wide, and 20 to 22 inches of the great gut 
next it are of like width and similarly sacced. The last 4 to 6 inches 
of the ccecum are simple and narrow. Average width of intestines 3 


inches, exclusive of wide part. 


Some account of the ‘‘ Kalén Musjeed,” commonly called the “ Kalee 
Musjeed,” within the new town of Dehli, by Ineut. Henry Lewis, 
Artillery, Deputy Commissary of Ordnance, and Henry Corr, Esq.* 


The historian says of Feeroz Toghluk, that during a reign of thirty- 
eight years “he built fifty dams across rivers, to promote irrigation ; 
forty mosques ; thirty colleges; one hundred serais ; thirty reservoirs 
for irrigation ; one hundred hospitals ; one hundred public baths, and 
one hundred and fifty bridges, besides many other edifices for pleasure 
or ornament.” —Elphinstone’s History of India, Vol. IT. p. 71. 


* Communicated by the Archoeological Society of Delhi. 
4¥F2 


578 Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.”’ [JuNeE, 


The distinguished writer here quoted remarks that the round num- 
bers, as well as the amount, of some of the items, suggest doubts of 
the accuracy of this list, but that the works of Feeroz, which still 
remain, afford sufficient evidence of the magnitude of his undertakings. 
The evidence around, and even in Dehli, of the truth of this remark, 
is most striking ; and though the whole of the structures which bear 
the impress of his period, may not have been, and probably were not, 
erected by this king architect himself, it is more than probable that 
the building mania in which he indulged, mduced the great officers 
around him to follow his example, and thus earn a sure way to royal 
favor. In this manner the king may have obtamed credit for many 
edifices which in reality owe their existence to the emulation he created. 
The inscriptional evidence of those times is, unfortunately, so very 
scanty, that this is a point which it must be extremely difficult to settle, 
and therefore that which is obtainable is the more valuable and deserv- 
ing the particular attention of the Archceologist. Among the most 
perfect specimens of the age of Feeroz Toghluk (Feeroz III. of the 
historians) is the large mosque,-within the walls of the present town 
of Dehli (Shajehanabad) known commonly as the Kalee Musjeed, 
or black mosque; but this designation, though there are grounds for 
believing it to be one of long standing, is in all probability a corruption 
of Kalan Musjeed, or chief mosque, in contradistinction to several 
smaller ones, said to be six in number, popularly reported to have been 
founded at the same time, and by the same person as the Kalan 
Musjeed; one of them exists at the present moment, though in a 
dilapidated state, at no great distance outside the walls of Dehli, 
between the Ajmeer and Lahore gates, and which has been converted 
into a lime-kiln and storehouse for fuel. The Kalan Musjeed is situated 
near the Toorkman gate of the town, in the Toorkman Thannah, and 
in the neighbourhood of the celebrated shrime of Toorkman Shah, of 
which some account may hereafter be given. It is built ‘on ground 
somewhat higher than that which surrounds it, and, with the exception 
of the Jumma Musjeed and the gates of the palace, is the most pro- 
minent structure in the city of Dehli. It consists of two stories, the 
first or basement consisting, as shown in the annexed plan, Pl. xv. 
of a number of small apartments which were possibly built for the 
very purpose they now answer, namely, that of assisting by the rent 


? WU ffi ‘pe: 
YY Yy 
V/A Y yy ty 
Zs Z Wy, Ny 
putt YG ll fli Le 
Wf 
YM, YY, 


Yy mn 
Y, 


yy yy Y 
Cpoay 


Mp 


Basernrent iS tory kalin Muszeed. 
Scale 4e fe adh 


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MUL ardlany =. 
ced fremy Me lopes plan. Wy eR ca 


pie LM oe 7 
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be A 4 @ A, 7 
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pZaiast Qe @ 4 @ c 

| op a /YyW/ a 7a i YW = 


| A 


| Lyper Vtory , Kalin Mirsjeed | | 
| 
| 


| 
| Rena cod from ML Sect la nas plan " es ME Oe a ee re 


T. Black. Asiatic Lith: Ress. Calcutta 


LoTS 


Muszeed. 


ANY 


VAVANIIATATAVATAWAVAWAWAYAvaya 


Nats 


cH 


YAAYALY 


Ppazet  £le vat. 6% of Lhe Kad woz: 


L197 P 8.7797 77) 


4973 wH 27 


va) 2 


Side vrew of ae vllars. 


Seckiow on ab 


6 
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YT. Black. Asiatic Lith: Rres 


1847. | Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.” 579 


they yield, in defraying the expenses of the mosque, im conformity with 
a practice prevailing to this day. The apartments along the walls are 
aecessible by doors raised one step above the ground; those in the 
towers by passages from the neighbourmg rooms. The upper story 
will be- described hereafter. The mosque is built of the materials 
which appear to have been generally in use at the time of its construc- 
tion, viz. the common quartzose sandstone found in the immediate 
neighbourhood of Dehli. This stone which is in masses of various 
sizes, some, especially those towards the foundation, being of consider- 
able dimensions, is unhewn, and cemented by chunam of the best 
quality, indeed so excellent that the strength of the domed roof seems 
to depend entirely on its adhesive properties, there being no attempt 
at placing the stones of which it is constructed throughout, into any 
thing like the arrangement now adopted in the building of arches and 
domes, crowned by a centre or keystone. This cementing chunam, in 
this, and it is believed in all other buildings of the period, with a view 
probably of saving the expenditure of lime, is mixed with a great 
proporticn of brick soorkee, of which many pieces are upwards of an 
inch in diameter. It will be curious to elucidate, by a series of obser- 
vations, whether the bricks of which this soorkee was prepared, were 
_made at the time, solely for the purpose of being mixed with the 
mortar, or whether they were remains of what had been used as the 
principal material in buildings of older date, and been discarded on 
the imtroduction, by the western people, of the use of tougher and less 
costly material, procurable in the neighbouring hills. The whole of 
the edifice, both inside and outside, has been plastered over with 
chunam of the best description, to judge by what remains ; and parts 
about the doorway show that the outside has been at some time or 
other coloured of that peculiar blue-black produced by the ground 
charcoal of cocoanuts, and other similar substances. Very little, how- 
ever of the plastering remains, except in the body of the mosque, where 
some care appears to have been taken for its preservation, (by repeated 
whitewashing,) and on the roof and domes which its durability has 
preserved from destruction. The whole is in avery fair state of 
preservation, and where, here and there, stones have fallen out, espe- 
cially at the base of the towers and walls, they have been carefully 
replaced by brick masonry. The steps leading up to the entrance 


580 Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.” [JuNE, 


door, and the pillars of the doorways and of the arches, are constructed 

of square roughly-hewn, hard, grey stone, described by Capt. Cautley, 

as only a variety of the quartzose sandstone more commonly in use 

in the walls, &c. which is also used for the eaves (slabs not above two 

inches thick and about two feet square) projecting into the upper inner 

square or court of the mosque, and for the brackets which support 

them. These brackets as well as the pillars at the doorways, are 

carved, as shown in the annexed sketches. Under the eaves, and 

resting on the brackets, is a ledge of the Roopas red stone, now so 

commonly in use throughout these provinces, but which seems to have 

been much more sparingly employed about the time of Feeroz than it. 
was 80 or a hundred years before, in the Kootub Meenar, the Mote 

Musjeed, and other structures of the time of Shahab-ood-deen and 
Shums-ood-deen Altumsh. The red stone is also used, (on account, 

presumeably, of its being softer and therefore more easily carved,) in 
the lattices of the windows, which are still open, and probably orna- 

mented all the thirty-three windows which surrounded the upper story, 

some of which are now blocked up with the common stone masonry. 

There are also lattices of the same material between the main body of 
the mosque, and the vaulted passage leading on each side to the dark 

apartments behind, but none to the west. These lattices appear, 

notwithstanding their having been very well carved, to have been all 
covered with very fine chunam, after the fashion which prevailed to 

within the last hundred years, when the finely carved pillars, such as 

are standing in the ruins of the Koodseea Begum’s Palace, built by the 

mother of Mahomed Shah (outside the Kashmeer gate) were similarly 

plastered over, to hide, it would seem, the piecings which here and 

there occur in the stone work. The stairs leading from below to the 

upper or main story are a flight of 29 steps, built upon three blind 

arches, with a landing place, and two more steps leading into the 

vestibule. Over. the doorway, as exhibited in the sketch of the eleva- 

tion, is a slab of somewhat rudely polished marble, with an inscription 

in the Nuskh character, of which the following is a copy in the common 

character of the present day :— 


Nope Blbslh edgy dyoya Wogys! Cys 9 Lag) peacerll crmaeyll SUT oans 
a ¥ ° A “05 
= Cyt BSLo OA wlll! BLS by 709 REallgal Gramyl only G51 yg! 


1847. | Some account of the “ Kalan Musjeed.”’ 581 
ke wld ol ole wile Gblee Jyrko Shiliga sléy9 gol} Bay 3y,SU) 
Bagh pd sles dyhy os" Gyo AH OF Seay JON Eth 10d 
dj poly, ly $o42 cy! td Ls o> oss oly jolts kx) (a Kod wrt» cy Ul danao 
god ddww ge Vicgoles p25 eu OW po OEM SUI isp! Rho ys! 
x Puen z) crs lead! 
(Translation.) 

“In the name of God the merciful, the clement, and in the reign of 
the devout king, strong by the help of the merciful God, Ab-ool- 
Moozuffer Feeroz, Shah-ul-Sultan; may his reign continue; this 
Mosque was built by the son of the slave waiting at the threshold, 
Junah Shah, exalted with the title of Khan Jehan, son of Khan Jehan; 
may God be merciful to him. Any one coming to this Mosque is 
required to pray for the chief of the Mussulmans, and for this slave 
with the Fateha, with earnestness, and with the hope that God may 
forgive him at the day of judgment. By the grace of Mahomet and 
his posterity this mosque has been finished on the 10th of Jumda-ool- 
akheer in the year of the Hijra 789.” 

It appears that the letters were first cut mto the marble. with small 
deep round holes in each letter, or limb of a letter, and that subsequent- 
ly lead was poured into the cavities, and then polished off even with 
the surface of the marble, the small deep holes assisting in keeping the 
lead firm in its place. The greater’part has, however, fallen out, with 
the exception of that in the vowel points, which are almost all perfect, 
and of two or three of the letters in the first and second lines. The 
entrance to the main body of the building is through a square vestibule 
with a domed roof, to which there were an outer and an inner pair of 
doors moving in sockets of a singular description, but common in the 
architecture of the times. The latter have disappeared, the former are 
still in existence, and to judge from their antique appearance, their 
most rude construction, and the very coarse iron work about them, it is 
fair to infer that they are ofa very ancient date, if not coeval with the 
mosque itself. The famous Somnath gates must be at least 800 years 
old, these would be only 459, and though sdlis probably not as durable 
as sandal-wood, to any one who may see these doors it would afford no 
great stretch of the imagination to believe that they were put up when 
the mosque was built. On passing the second doorway you enter a 


582 Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.” [JuNR, 


cloister surrounding, on three sides, the inner court of the mosque. 
This cloister supports four domes on the north and south sides, and 
six on the east, the part next the entrance being covered with a nearly 
flat octagonal roof, of superior construction. In the part of the court | 
next this square are three principal tombs, and a secondary one, in a 
row, built of brick and plastered over, three of men and one of a 
woman. The three first have each head-walls about three and a half 
feet high, with recesses for lamps, and altogether look so modern that 
it is difficult to believe in the correctness of the tradition which has it 
that Khan Jehan, the father, and Khan Jehan the son, are both buried 
here, though it should be remembered that the tomb, still in existence, 
over the remains of the founder of the Toghluk dynasty, is also of 
brick. There is no trace of an inscription which could afford the 
slightest clue to the truth or falsehood of the tradition. On the west 
side of the court is the main body of the mosque, consisting of a system 
of arches and domes, supported by six double and eighteen single 
pillars, including the pillasters against the walls on three sides. 
There are consequently five arches in front, and three in depth, sup- 
porting fifteen domes all, but the centre one, which is about three feet 
higher than the others, of the same height and dimensions. Round 
this colonnade, which would be decidedly imposing were the pillars only 
two or three feet higher, runs an enclosed passage, the use of which it 
is difficult to expla at present. It is dark and divided in the rear (to 
the west) beg there separated from the mosque by a dead wall into 
three apartments, the centre one the smallest. “In the imner wall of this 
passage, on either side and to the right and left of the door leading 
into it from the surrounding cloister, are flights of steps leading to the 
roof. ‘They are, as usual in all buildings of that time, narrow, but not 
difficult of access, as is frequently the case. It seems premature at 
present to attempt any general conclusion on the nature of the buildings 
erected in the time of Feeroz, and the light they throw on the history 
of the period, there bemg so many other contemporaneous structures in 
the neighbourhood of Dehli, the examination of which must further 
elucidate the subject, but the following points regarding the Kalan 
Musjeed, the most perfect specimen of those times remaining, seem 
worthy of remark. | 


Ist. The sloping style of the architecture seems peculiarly illus- 


1847. ] Some account of the “ Kalan Musjeed.” 583 


trative. of the buildings of that, and earlier periods. The Kootub 
Minar is a well known instance of this style, as adopted about 100 
years before the time of Feeroz, and the conical towers on each side of 
the entrance to the Kalan Musjeed are, in their general conformity, not 
unlike the famous Kootub Tower. The sloping pillasters on each side 
of the main entrance give somewhat of an Egyptian appearance to the 
front of the building, which is not dissimilar from some of the more 
ancient remains of Hindoo architecture, the style of which is generally 
believed to have been derived from the Egyptians. 

It will be an interesting subject of future inquiry,—being a question 
which has not, that we are aware of, been yet decided, whether the 
Mahomedan conquerors of India preserved the style of architecture of 
the countries from which they emigrated, or whether they did not imitate 
toa certain extent the Hindoo buildings which they found in India. 

2nd. ‘The very simple kind of column and entablature used in this 
building as supports to the arches, is a point also very worthy of notice. 
It consists of one, or in most instances, two upright stones or pillars, 
standing on a third, with a fourth placed on the-top as an entablature. 
This is one of the most primitive styles of architecture known. The 
peculiar construction of the arches and domes, the stones of which are 
held together by the wonderful adhesive qualities of the lime used in 
those days, without any key stones, has been before remarked upon, 
and is another characteristic of the Mahomedan Indian buildings of 
the 14th century. 

3rd. It is reasonable to infer that this mosque was built in the 
midst of a considerable population, and that the present site of Dehli, 
was either a suburb of the then Feerozabad, or if not, a portion of that 
town itself. | 

It has been mentioned that the apartments on the basement story 
are occupied. The tenants pay to the collector of Dehli the monthly 
sum of Rs. 6-3, of which 6 Rs. are handed over to the attendant Priest 
appomted by the local authorities who, out of that sum, defrays the 
expenses of sweeping, and water, and provides the dudenees in use by 
the few frequenters of the mosque, chiefly Afighans residing in the 
neighbourhood, to perform their ablutions. The balance of 3 annas 
per mensem is carried to the credit of the state, which is however, at 
the expense of any repairs which may be required. 


D584 Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.” [Junn, 


As it is desirable, that a biographical sketch of the founder of any 
building illustrated should, where possible, accompany the detailed 
accounts which will, it is hoped, be laid from time to time before the 
Archeological Society of Dehli, with the view of comparing the archi- 
tectural with the written records of the times, some aceount of Khan 
Jehan, who built the Kalan Musjeed, is here annexed, derived chiefly 
from Ferishta. The inscription explicitly mentions that the founder 
was the son of another Khan Jehan, and we find this assertion sup- 
ported by the historian, who informs us that the first Jehan was, in the 
year of the Hijra 754, (A. D. 1349,) two years after the accession of 
Feeroz to the throne of Dehli, and in the 44th of his life, appointed 
Viceroy of Dehli, while the Emperor proceeded to Bengal on an expe- 
dition against Elias (Ilyas Khaje Sultan Shums-ood-deen Bengara).* 


* Since the above was written we have been favored by Major M. E. Loftie, 30th 
N.I., with the following account of Khan Jehan the elder, extracted from the Taba- 
kat Akbaree, which confirms the above, and furnishes still more ample details : 

Extracts from the Tabakdt Akbari, regarding Khén Jahan the elder, the wasir of 
Sultin Firtz Shah. 

* And in the year 754, after having hunted in (the district of) Kalanar, he (Firaz 
Shah) returned, and, at the time of his return, he laid the foundations of some lofty 
buildings on the banks of the river Sarasuti. And he conferred upon Shaikh Sadru’d- 
din, the son of Shaikh Bahau’d-din Zakariya, the title of Shaikhu’l-Islam, and, having 
honoured Malik Kabél, who was the deputy wazir, with the title of Khan Jah4n, he 
made him the wazir of the empire.’”’* 

‘And also in the month of ShawAl, in the year 754, having invested Kh4n Jahdn 
with the most ample authority, he (FirGz Shah) left him in the eity (of Dehlf), and 
departed with a powerful foree for Lakhnauti, in order that he might put an end to the 
tyranny exercised by Ilyas Haji, who, having assumed the title of Sultan Shamsu’d-din, 
and founded (or enlarged) the city of PandG4, had taken possession of the country as far 
as the confines of Banaras.” 

“ After that, in the year 760, the Sultan (Firéz Shah) marehed towards Lakhnauti, 
leaving Khan Jahan in Dihlt, as vice regent during his absence.” 

‘“In the year 772,+ Khan Jahan died, and his eldest son, J&nan Shah, received the 
title of Khan Jahn.” 


* According to Ferishta, Khan Jahan was appointed wazir, by Firdz Shéh, in the 
year 752, when that monarch was advancing to the capital from the neig hbourhood of 
Thatha (Tattah) in Sind, where he had been ‘called to the throne on the demise of Sultan 
Muhammad Taghlik Shah. Sultan Muhammad died on the 2Ist of Muharram 752, and 
Firaz Shah arrived at Dihli on the 2d of Rajab, the same year, having been 158 “days 
upon the journey. On his way, he passed through the city of Ajadhan (also called 
Pattan), in the province of Multan, where he visited the tomb of the celebrated Muham- 
madan saint, Shaikh Faridu’d-din Shakar ganj. From Ajadhan, he moved to Hansi, and 
it was upon ‘the march to that city, that Mahk Kabfil, waited upon him, and was raised 
to the dignity of prime minister, with the title of Khan Jahan. (See Ferishta, Bombay 
edition, p. 260). M. E. L. 

t Ferishta says 774 (v. Bombay edition), and Dow gives the same date. M. E, L. 


1847.] Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.” 585 


This officer, who was subsequently raised to the dignity of Wazeer of 
the empire, died A. H. 774, (A. D. 1356,) in the 22d of the reign of 
Feeroz, and was succeeded in his titles and office by his son, (whose 
name was Jonah Shah, according to the inscription, though that fact 
is not mentioned by the historian.)* In A. H. 787, the 13th of his 
Weezarut, and the 35th of his master’s reign, it is said that age and 
infirmity began to press hard upon Feeroz. ‘Jehan, the Wuzeer, 
having the sele management of affairs, became very powerful in the 
empire. The emperor was so much under his direction, in all things, 
that he had the effrontery falsely to accuse Mahomed, the King’s son, 
of a design against his father’s life, in conjunction with several omrahs. 
He brought the old man firmly to credit this accusation, and obtained 
his authority to secure the supposed conspiraters.” * * * « A party 
was sent to seize the Prince, who having previous intelligence of the 
design against him, began to provide for his security, placing guards, and 
fortifying himselfin his palace. In this situation he remained shut up 
for some days; and at last, having obtained leave for his wife to visit 
the King’s Zenana, he put on his armour, went into the close chair, and 
was carried into the Seraglio. When he discovered himself in that 
dress, the frightened women ran screaming into the emperor’s apart- 
ment, and told him that the prince had come in armour with a 
treasonable design. The Prince having followed them, presented 
himself to his father, and falling at his feet, told him, with 
great emotion, that the suspicions he had entertained of him 
were worse than death itself. That he came, therefore, to receive 
‘it from his own hands. But first he begged leave to inform him, 
that he was perfectly innocent of the villainous charge which the 
Wuzeer had purposely contrived to pave his own way to the throne. 
Feeroz, sensible of his son’s sincerity, clasped him in his arms, 
and weeping, told him he had been deceived, and therefore desir- 
ed him to proceed, as his judgment should direct him against the 
traitor. Mahomed, upon this, went out from the presence and 
ordered 12,000 horse to be in readiness. With this body he surrounded 
the Wuzeer’s house that night, who upon hearing of the prince’s 
approach, put Ziffer (governor of Mahoba, lately imprisoned on the 


* It is however in the Tabakét Akbaree, as will be scen in the extract translated by 
Major Loftie. We find that Ferishta himself also calls him Junah Shah, p. 256. 
Le 2 


586 Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.” [JunK, 


plea of his bemg one of the conspirators with the prince against the 
emperor) to death, and colleeting his friends, came out to engage him 
in the street. Upon the first onset the traitor was wounded, and drew 
back to his house. He fled immediately towards Mewat and the prince 
seized all his wealth and cut off his adherents. Feeroz, immediately 
after these transactions, resigned the reins of government into the 
hands of his son, and abdicated the throne. The prince assumed the 
name of Mahomed (Naseer-ood-deen-ood Duneea), ascended the throne 
in the month of Shaban 789, and immediately ordered the Kootba to 
be read in his own and his father’s name.” —Ferishta’s History of Hin- 
dustan, translated by Dow, Vol, I. pp. 311, 312). 

From this detailed account by the historian it would appear that the 
Kalan Musjeed was finished by the Wuzeer Khan Jehan, only two short 
months, perhaps less, before his treason led to his downfal, his expul- 
sion from the capital, and the loss ofall his wealth, which fifteen years 
of unlimited power, under the declining energies of Feeroz, had doubt- 
less made an object of desire to the prince who expelled him. His 
end was the end of most men in disgrace in those days. THe had, it 
appears, taken refuge with a chief named Goga. On the appearance, 
in his district, of Sekunder Khan, a newly appointed governor of 
Guzrat, who was proceeding through Mewat to take possession of his 
office, Goga, fearing the resentment of the new emperor, seized Khan 
Jehan, and sent him bound to Sekunder Khan, who cut off his head, 
and forwarded it to Dehli. (Ferishta as above).* It is, therefore, 


* Here again we are under obligations to Major Loftie for extracts from the Tabakat 
Akbaree, relating to the career and overthrow of Khan Jehan the younger :— 

Account of the fall of Khan Jahdén the younger, extracted from the Tabakdét Akbari, 

“In this year (787), the emperor (Firaz Shah) was greatly broken by infirmity and 
old age, and Khan Jah4n, becoming possessed of unlimited authority, was desirous of 
getting into his hands the emperor’s son, the prince Muhammad Khan, together with 
several of the nobility, such as Dary& Khan, the son of Zafar Khan, Malik Yaakab, 
Muhammad Haji, Malik Sam@’ud-din, and Malik Kamalid-din, who were friends and 
well wishers of the prince, and of depriving them of their power. He represented to the 
emperor, that the prince, in concert with the aforesaid noblemen, meditated a revolt, and 
Firdz Shah, putting faith in what he said, directed that the whole of those Lords should 
be arrested. Intelligence of this proceeding having been received by the prince, he 
absented himself for some days from the presence of his father. Khan Jahan then summon- 
ed Daryé Khan to appear before him, on the pretence of examining the accounts of the 
district of Mahoba, and (upon his arrival) confined him in his (Khan Jahan’s) house, 
On hearing of this, the prince was filled with apprehension, and waited upon his father, 


1847. | Some account of the “ Kalin Musjeed.”’ 587 


possible that his head may have been interred in the mosque beside 
the remains of his father, and that the tradition above alluded to 
might be considered as founded on fact, did not the appearance of the 
tombs themselves cast such a strong doubt upon it. We have, in the 
agreement between the dates of the historian, and that of the inserip- 
tion, a confirmation of the accuracy of Ferishta in this part of his 
history at least, as it is scarcely likely that he ever saw or heard of 
the Kalan Musjeed, which must, in his time, (that of Jehangeer) have 
been outside the town of Dehli, surrounded, probably, by ruins, 
and as abandoned as it is now as a place of worship. Its massive 
solidity could alone have withstood the ravages of 459 years. In 
conclusion it may be remarked as a singular fact that a building of 


whom he convinced of the treasonable designs of Khan Jahan. ‘‘ He is anxious,” said 
he, “to get rid of the principal members of the nobility, and after having removed them, 
he will turn his thoughts to the seizure of our persons.”’ Upon this, the emperor ordered 
that Khan Jahan should be put to death, and released Daryé Khan from confinement.* 
The prince Muhammad now directed Malik Yaakab to have the horses of the imperial 
stables in readiness, and also desired Malik Kutbad-din, the superintendant of the 
elephants, to draw up those animals, for the purpose of making an attack upon Khan 
Jahan. Towards the end of the night, the prince proceeded with a strong force against 
Khan Jahan, who sallied out of his house, accompanied by a few friends, and began to 
defend himself. At length, he was wounded, and his party being overthrown, he fled 
from the spot. The prince plundered his house, and put to death Bihz4d-Fatah Khani, 
Malik Imadfd-daulat, Malik Shamsfd-din, and Malik Masalih, who had fallen into his 
hands in the course of the fight. After these events, the emperor entrusted his son 
with the sole management of affairs, made over to him the insignia of royalty, such as 
horses, elephants, and followers, and conferred upon him the title of Nasirfd-din wa- 
ud-dunya Muhammad Shah (the defender of the faith and of the World, the emperor 
Muhammad). Fir4éz Shah then devoted himself to the service of God, and the duties 
of religion. On Friday, the Khutba was read in the name of both sovereigns—Sultan 
Muhammad Shah mounted the throne in the month of Shaaban, in the year 789. 
* * * * On Malik Yaakaib he (Muhammad Shh) conferred the title of Sikandar 
Khan, and he placed the province of Gujrat under his control. * * * * * Malik 
Yaakab, on whom the title of Sikandar Khan had been conferred, was sent by Muham- 
mad Shah, with'a large body of troops, against Khan Jahan. When this force arrived 
im the neighbourhood of Mewaét, Kaka Chauhan,; seized Khan Jahan, and sent him 
to Sikandar Khan, by whomhe was put to death, and his head sent to Muhammad Shah. 

* J think there is an error here in my copy of the Tabakaét Akbari, and that for 
“released Daryé Khan from confinement,” we should read ‘ directed that Darya Khan 
should be released from confinement.” Darya Khan was, at this time, imprisoned in the 
house of Khan Jahan, and was subsequently (according to Firishta, by whom he is 
named Zafar(not Dary4) Khan, the son of Zafar Khan) put to death by the fallen 
minister, when the prince Muhammad Shah attacked his house.—M, FE. L. 


t To whom, Firishta states, he had fled for protection.— M. EB, L. 
t This occurred in A, H, 789, 


588 Some aceount of the “ Kaldn Musjeed.” _ [June, 


this kind within the precincts of a large and modern town, and promi- 
nently conspicuous from almost all parts of that town, should have 
been so little noticed by modern travellers. Bernier has not a word 
about it; it is not alluded to by Franklin, whose description of Dehli, 
in the fourth Volume of the Asiatic Researches, forms the staple basis 
of all subsequent accounts. It is possible however that descriptions 
may exist; if so the writers of this have not seen them, and can only 
hope that in such a case their account may be found to contain matter 
not previously touched upon by others.* They may further be per- 
mitted to express a hope that they will not be considered presumptuous 
in suggesting to other members of the Archceological Society of Dehli, 
the plan they have adopted in this paper with regard to other edifices 
around Dehli, by which a large mass of valuable illustrative information 
might be collected in a very short time. 

We may state in addition that we have learnt, since the above was 
written, that several years after Dehli came mmto the possession of the 
British government, the principal Mahommedan inhabitants of the 
neighbourhood of the Torkman gate, who noticed with grief the neglect 
with which this mosque was treated by the king in whose charge it ap- 
pears then to have been, presented a petition to the local authorities to 
restore the mosque to its original use; that their request received 
favorable consideration, that a grant, said to have amounted to Rs. 1500, 
was made to clean and repair the mosque, that the silk-weavers who had 


* The following is the account, a very disparaging one, given of the mosque by 
Bishop Heber in the narrative of his journey:—‘‘ The Kala Musjeed is small, and has 
nothing worthy of notice about it but its plainness, solidity and great antiquity, being a 
work of the first Patan conquerors, and belonging to the times of primitive Mussulman 
simplicity. It is exactly on the plan of the original Arabian mosques, a square Court 
surrounded by a cloister; and roofed with many small domes of the plainest and most 
solid construction, like the rudest specimen of what we call the early Norman architec- 
ture. It hasno minaret; the erier stands on the roof to proclaim the hour of prayer. 
—Vol. Il. p. 297, 8vo. edit. 

Hamilton, in his East India Gazetteer (2d edit. 1828) says of the Kalan Musjeed : 
“‘ Besides these there are forty other mosques, some of which bear the marks of consi- 
derable antiquity. This applies more particularly to the black mosque, a large and 
gloomy edifice of dark-coloured granite, whose rude internal columns, cloistered area, 
numerous low cupolas, and lofty outer walls, devoid of aperture or ornaments denote 


an origin coeval with the earlier Affghan dynasties.” [This last paragraph clearly shows 
that the inscription had not been read at the time the Gazetteer was published, because 


the reading would have Jeft no doubt about the matter]. 


1847.| Translation of Inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad. 589 


taken possession of it, were turned out, and that the arrangements now 
subsisting were then made for letting out the ground floor apartments 
so as to provide the means for keeping up at least the small religious 
establishment still provided. 


Translation of an Inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad with Re- 
marks, by Major St. G. D. SHowrrs. 


I send you for insertion in the Journal of the Society a copy of a 
Persian inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad. I forward also a trans- 
lation of the inscription, with a sketch of the Gun. It is lying ina 
spot called the “‘ Top-khanuh,”’ which, with the ‘ Qabuk-khanuh,” in 
its immediate vicinity, took its name from the guns and ordnance stores 
collected here by the Nawab Mohabut Jung, otherwise called Ulee- 
vurdee Khan, when hordes of freebooters, known among the people here 
by the name of Burgees, (no doubt the Mahrattas,) roamed over the 
country in search of plunder. Several guns and some shot have been dug 
up and removed, and there are still two or three lying about or half 
buried in the earth. The gun on which the inscription is found is 
named the “ Juhan Koosha,” the Subduer of the world, and was pro- 
bably brought by Moorshid Koollee Khan from Dhaka, where it was 
constructed, when he became invested with the administration of these 
Provinces. The following are the dimensions of the gun :- 


eer 
RP GHOEL ssa ladnica tain Ai aiid ak adie «ee sit pl, 8 
MEP DORG.. 44 Sees ian oe Cake pc eihne foe. Y 1D. 43 
ics Ze £0.11 St LEI, ssisese, ole: acy des dickens feel o0de «io! wre oC) 
Space between the 2d trunnions, 5 0 
Prom 2d trunnion to, the breccias site ce je ness alors per0n,s 5 0 
Diameter of muzzle, ...........: 1 92 


TR fe ER ARCADE os ask) ti aa a rr 0 6 
It was made, as the inscription states, at Dhaka during the reign of 
the Emperor Shah Jahan, and is formed in the old style of welding to- 
gether a series of rings over bars of iron. The art of casting cannon 
was known at Dehli as far back as the reign of the Emperor Babur, 


590 Translation of Inscription on a Gun at Morshedabad. | Junu, 


but it is probable it had not reached so distant a province as Bengal, or 
the Juhan Koosha, a gun with which so much trouble appears to have 
been taken, would not have been constructed on the older and ruder 
method. 

Islam Khan, the Viceroy by whose order the gun was constructed, is 
said, according to the author of the Siyur-ool-Mootakhureen, to have 
been appointed to the Government of Bengal 1047 of Hijree, corre- 
sponding to 1637 of our era, and was transferred to the Dewanee of the 
Empire at Delhi in the month Rujub 1049, or A. D. 1639. | 

The rest that is known of this Governor is succinctly mentioned by 
Marshman in his History of Bengal. I extract the passage, as it will 
be interesting in connection with the account of the gun :— 

“In 1638 Islam Khan Mushmedy, an old and experienced officer, 
succeeded to the Viceroyalty of Bengal. In the first year of his 
Government, Mukut Ray, who held Chittagong for the Rajah of Arra- 
can, rebelled against his master, and delivered it up to the Moguls. 
This port originally belonged to the independent kingdom of Tipperah : 
it was next conquered by the Muhammadans; but in the disputes which 
arose between the Afghans and Moguls, it fell into the hands of the 
king of Arracan. It was probably called Islamabad after the Governor 
who in this year acquired possession of it. Meanwhile the Rajah of 
Assam embarked five hundred boats on the Brumhapootra, and came 
down like a torrent on Bengal, plundering every town and village in the 
way. The Soobadar went out to meet him with his war boats armed 
with cannon.’ The Assamese could not withstand them. Their fleet 
was soon in flames ; of the crew, a part fled to the shore, but four thou- 
sand were put to death. Islam Khan pursued them to their own 
country, and took fifteen forts and much spoil. It was also under his 
Viceroyalty, which lasted but one year, that Cooch Behar was invaded 
by the Muhammadans.”’ | 

It will be observed there is a slight discrepancy between Marshman’s 
account, and that in the Siyur-ool-Mootakhureen with regard to the date 
of the Viceroy’s appointment to Bengal : but it is of little consequence, 
as it has probably arisen in computing the corresponding years of 
the Christian and Muhammadan eras, an error in such caleulations 
being easily occasioned by mistaking the interealary periods of the Mu- 
hammadan year. . 


1847.] Translation of Inscription on a Gun at Moorshedabad. 591 


To the naturalist and the general observer the “ Juhan Koosha” is 
curious from the position in which it is lying. It is grasped by two 
trunks of a peepal tree, and supported by them about eighteen inches 
from the ground.. Native tradition states that it was brought to the 
spot on a carriage, and was left there as the wheels sunk into the mud 
and could not be extricated. The tree must have sprung up under it, 
and the trunks as they grew, grasped the gun and continued to support 
it after the carriage had rotted away and fallen from under it. The 
back trunnion, on the opposite side from that whence the sketch is 
taken, is imbedded in the trunk and cannot be seen, but two stancheons 
and a ring are visible, which evidently belonged to the carriage. The 
front trunnion, with the iron work attached, was until lately also im- 
bedded in the tree: but within the last six months a part of the 
trunk has been torn away by a storm, ‘by which it has become exposed 
to view. The iron work on which the trunnion rested corresponds 
with the dimensions which may be supposed to be necessary to support 
so large a body on its carriage: and its bulk had no doubt so weakened 
the outer portion of the trunk as to make it yield easily to any force 
applied to it. 

There is another peculiarity which it may be proper to notice as 
exhibiting a second phenomenon in the growth of the tree. There are 
two trunks that support the gun, but I am inclined to think they are 
branches of one tree. The trunk, obstructed in its growth, and pressed 
down by the weight of the gun, had first spread out under it ; then fore- 
ing itself up one side and still hugging the gun, it met with anew obsta- 
cle in the trunnion, stancheons andthe heavy iron work attached to 
them, and unable to press them aside yielded to the obstruction and. 
parted and shot up in two large branches. 

I cannot conclude this without acknowledging my obligation to 
Ensign Forster, of the 39th N.I. for the copy of the sketch I 
forward. 

Inscription. 
eb Bd oda > rd loo Elo a yeh aU Sls 
cdl! Sb wld Gale “3b aie whe gle Cla olyo eye 08 
el Rv gis 3 shag! “asl, sol; wry rphey? &S ost? &A3 yc as 
elt (5 bib) gems Jy olss glo Aad 9 wide Jog eyo are } 

4 un 


592 Translation of Inscription on a Gun at Morshedabad. [Junw 
ele: 39 5 9} aslo be! Ello af Bie Bdgdue y's wy dx ApRd 
eile Khare Wa last d94 i) dy 8S wlalle wld acl Wi Soo ola” 
ell Sieh 9 a5 cmd gy Jed (95! Coy3 Cys! Shale ES 
Suv (31520 11 Siu lt (50 lee xle Saal W> lke cork) 9 crld &J 


ays ra TS csyres Js cle cpons qs” wW39 - 23h W539 phe 


Translation of the Inscription. 


The first couplet is illegible, but it is probably connected with the 
second. 

«The Lord of the world! the great Shah Jehan 

Unequalled—a second Sahib Qiran, the king of Islam.— 

Such the dignity of this gun, that in the highest heaven 

The times assigned it a station in the most exalted place. 

From the report of its power, and omens dreadful and awe-striking, 

The fortifications of the enemy shook as by an earthquake.— 

In the time of the chief of noble qualities— 

By whom the kingdom of Bengal was organized, 

The cloud of beneficence, the famed Islam Khan, 

At whose door prosperity waited as the lowest menial,— 

When this gun of serpentine form was constructed, 

For the purpose of destroying the enemies of the kng— 

I sought in the path of reflection the year of its completion, 

Came* 


the “top Jahan Koosha” by inspiration. 

The Gun Jahan Koosha was constructed at Jahangeer-nuggur, other- 
wise called Dhaka, during the Darogaship of Sher Mahommad, and 
when Hur Bulleeah Das was Mashrif (Inspector), and Junar Jun 
Chief Blacksmith ; in the month of Jumadee-oos-Sanee, in the year 
11 + corresponding to the year 1047. Weight 212 maunds, the mea- 
sure 36 dams til sumaree, charge of powder 28 seers.” 


* A word here elligible on the inscription. 
+ Of the reign of the Emperor. 


SARARAAAAAAPALAAALAL AL LLVPVPLLLLLILLILLLIILLI If * 


1847.| Postscript on the Pigmy Hog of the Saul forest. 593 


Postscript on the Pigmy Hog of the Saul forest, by B. H. Honc- 
SON, Lsq. 

Since my account of this rare animal was written I have had the 
great and unexpected good fortune to- procure another specimen, a fine 
old male, which exhibits in perfection the characters of the species. I 
am still of opinion that the Pigmy Hog cannot be properly classed with 
the true Hog, or genus Stis, though the disparity is not so great as I 
was led to suppose. The following generic and specific characters will, 
I hope, accurately pourtray our animal in his general and special 
relations. | 


Pachydermata. 
Suidee. : 
Genus Porcula, mihi. 


Generic character.—Teeth 44, asin Sus; canines smaller and straight- 
er. Facial bones contracted in length and void of the peculiar nasal bone 
and cartilage of Sus. Fourth toe small and unequal. Tail rudimental. 


Type, Porcula Salvania, mihi. 

Pigmy Hog of the Saul forest. 

Sano Banél and Chota Savar of the natives. 
Habitat, the Saul forest. 


Specific character.—Pigmy Hog, of a medial brown colour, resulting 
from anirregular mixture of bristles wholly or partially black and sordid 
amber colour, the black part being generally basal and rarer. Young 
darker hued and unstriped. Iris hazel. Nude skin, dirty flesh colour, 
Hoots glossy brown. Pelage ordinary, abundant, consisting of bristles. 
Nomane. Tailnot so long as the hairs ofthe rump, straight, nude. 
Length from snout to vent 22 to 24 inches. Height 10 inches. Weight 
10 Ibs, rarely 12. The scull of the Pigmy as compared with that of 
the common Hog is distinguished by a very considerable contraction of 
the great length of jaws proper to Sus, by a total absence of the special 
nasal bone and cartilage of that genus, by molar teeth carried back 
under the orbits so far as to exceed their posteal margin, by greater 
compression of the facial bones and foramina, by zygome much less 
oblique or more horizontal, by smaller straighter canines, of which 
those of the lower jaw are very noticeably less, divergent or more erect, 

4u 2 


594 Translation of the Inscription in the Nagarjuni Cave. [Junr, 


by orbits more nearly complete, there being distinet processes from the 
zygomee as well as from the frontals, and lastly, by incisors unchan- 
nelled. The teeth are &, 1:2, 4:2 and agree with those of Sus save in 
the straightness and erectness of the canines of the lower jaw. The 


following are the dimensions of a fine old male. 


Snout to vent, “oF... 0 ae eee ee 2 0 

Head to-oceiptit, 3... 4.4, SO ee rie bs 
Pitter oe... de ee ees ee SAS Oe 
‘Hime lee “heel 'to*hookeeg SSeS ,. QO 41 
Fore‘les, ‘elbow to hoof, 220) 2h. Ore 

Length of ear tp debe, o. ec. aes soe 0, 12 
Mean height, =. ok: 2Saieeee Pot So OF AD 
SilOUL 60 CVG. os oer a 0 33 
Kye to ear,.. Re Ms ee I! Be = 
Girth behind Pee A SR eo. eek eg os 1 32 
Leneth-of fore hoot, 12). coeion xi, cme aes 0 03% 
With or dite Same, oop nc co, . eae er 0 04% 
Bo gM SIR eB a i AI Schl 10lbs, 

Scull. 

Lenothi, 50 oi ote Resa oe ee ee sl 
Width; @reatest,. oi a:o pete ati in) nS eee ieee 

Heigist, ctewtest. i) inc its te. jvc peeie met » O AR 
Frout teeth to fore angle of orbits, ...... 0 34 


Translation of the Inscription in the Nagarjuni Cave, given in Plate 
A. of the present Volume. 


In compliance with the wish of our indefatigable friend Capt. 
Kittoe, we had the inscription given in Plate X. ofthe last number tran- 
scribed in Deva Nagari and translated into English. It proves however 
to be no novelty ; an English version having been published long ago 
by Wilkins in the second volume of the Asiatic Researches! As 
this work is inaccessible to many readers of the Journal, we think it 
right, having published a facsimile of the original, to reprint the Eng- 


1847 .| Translation of the Inscription in the Nagarjuni Cave. 595 


lish version, together with the Deva Nagari transcript prepared by the 
Society’s librarian, Babi Rajendra Lal Mittra. 


waiaaadtat wafta aafasage: sarang 
GANA MICA SU || PATRTaTaaafacwaare Sar 
NAS : NO A 
we tiatat facasareateat wa aaa || Btwreaa- 
“0 ’ ~ eS ON c = “i 
mast: ucteasta desad ws wHAcifafraaqat 
Torani | eerccfsufsanscca datgd afcaa 
faa yaud detfsafaca Fars qeTsaTG|| AAA. 
ACUISUPAATTAACITAL AAT VA TAFIVATRCTTaA 
quatre: sais BCaeraqsifratrqety 
és: fut aif: afscufafauferrasaaite: sara. 
© Q ~ x D> 
wqeacatraaiga-wsgameaitaestsaaqareiica: as- 
aq) xeon faafuarst wearer aafk&<daeaa 
Teale MiAlsaaralvs: | 
1. The auspicious Sree YasnaA Verma, whose movement was as the 
sportive elephant’s in the season of lust, was like Manoo,* the 
appointer of the military station of all the chiefs of the earth. By 


whose divine offerings, the God with a thousand eyes} being constantly 
invited, the emaciated Poutomit for a long time sullied the beauty of 
her cheeks with falling tears. 

2. Ananta Verma by name, the friend of strangers ; renowned in 
the world in the character of valour; by nature immaculate as the 
lunar beams, and who is the offspring of Sree Surdoola: By him this 
wonderful statue of Buootaputi and of Drvi§ the maker of all things 
visible and invisible, and the granter of boons, which hath taken 
sanctuary in this cave, was caused to be made. May it protect the 
universe ! 


* The first legislator of the Hindus. 

+ Eendra, a deification of the Heavens. 

¢ The wife of Eendra. 

§ Siva, or Mahadev, and his consort in one image, asa type of the deities, Genitor 
and Genetrix. 


596 Addendum to Capt. Madden’s Notes. 


3. The string of his expanded bow, charged with arrows and drawn 
to the extremity of the shoulder, bursteth the circle’s centre. Of 
spacious brow, propitious distinction, and surpassing beauty, he is the 
image of the moon with an undiminished countenance. ANANTA 
Verma to the end! Of form like Smara* in existence, he is seen with 
the constant and affectionate, standing with their tender and fascinated 
eyes constantly fixed upon him. 

4, From the machine his bow, reproacher of the crying hoorarat 
bent to the extreme he is endued with force ; from his expanded virtue 
he isa provoker; by his good conduct his renown reacheth to afar ; 
he is a hero by whose unerring steeds the elephant is disturbed, and a 
youth who is the seat of sorrow to the women of his foes. He is the 
director, and his name is ANANTA. { 


Addendum to Capt. E. Mapprn’s Notes of an excursion to the Pindree 
Glacier. 


The subjoined note which came to hand some time after Capt. 
Madden’s interesting article had been printed, should have appeared at 
foot of page 246. Speaking of the Thakil palm, Chamcerops Martiana, 
Capt. Madden adds,— 


“This Palm reaches the height of 30 feet, and is very abundant on the 
N. W. side of the Thakil mountain, where it flourishes from 6000 to about 
7800 feet, along with Oaks, Maples, Rhododendrons, Yew, and Primula denti- 
culata. Ihave also been informed that there are two tall specimens on the 
top of a mountain between Sutralee and Bagesur, to the nght of the road, 
about three miles from the former place. Trewia nudiflora (“ Toomree,’’) 
is found in the Turrai as far to the N. W. as Jounlasal, half way between 
Bhumouree and Burmdeo: to which point also reaches a semi-scandent 
Dalbergia, with pinnate leaves, apparently unknown further north, but very 
common towards Burmdeo. In the passes near this place, we find Thunbergia 
coccinea, “ Kuljoka,” in abundance; and Hardwickia binata, ‘ Kuchlora”— 
attaining the size of a large timber tree. The Clematis Nepalensis of 
De Candolle (with an mvolucre) is abundant on the 8. side of the Gaugur 
Pass, at the head of the stream called Jurra-panee, and apparently does not 
extend much further north: it grows at about 6500 feet elevation, and blos- 
soms in December and January.” 

Capt. Madden further adds, that the kind of shark found in the 
Surjoo, called gonsh, is well know in the Ganges at Hurdwar. 


* The Hindu Cupid. + A bird that is constantly making a noise before rain. 
{ Eternal, infinite. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 


May, 1847. 


The usual monthly meeting of the Asiatic Society was held on 
Wednesday the 5th May. 


The Honble Sir J. P. Grant, in the Chair. 
The Proceedings of last meeting were read and confirmed. 
The accounts and vouchers for the past month were submitted as 
usual, 
The following gentlemen, duly proposed and seconded at the April 
meeting, were ballotted for and elected :— 
Capt. J. C. Hanyngton, 
Rev. Jas. Thomson. 
G. Udny, Esq. C. 8. 
R. Thwaites, Esq. 
M. EK. Gibelin, of Pondicherry. 
J. R. Logan, Esq. 
James S. Blakie Scott, Esq. 
Falconer Chute Sandes, Esq. 
Warren H. Leslie Frith, Esq. 
Robt. Thomas, Esq. 
The following gentlemen were named as candidates for admission 
(to be ballotted for at Jute meeting). 
R. O’Dowda, Esq., proposed by Dr. O’Shaughnessy, seconded by 
Lieut.-Col. Forbes. 
Tieut, Thuillier, Bengal Artillery, proposed by Dr. Stewart, and se- 
conded by Dr. O’Shaughnessy. 
J. B. Liliott, Esq. C. S. Patna, proposed by Mr. Laidlay, second- 
ed by Capt. Munro. 


998 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [May, 


H.W. Elliott, Esq. C.8., Sec. to Govt. of India, proposed by Dr. 
Roer, seconded by Mr. Bushby. 

John Johnstone, Esq., proposed by Mr. R. W. G. Frith, seconded by 
Mr. Laidlay. 

Capt. Thos. Brodie, 5th N. I. Principal Assistant Commies: 
Sibsagur, Assam, proposed by Major Jenkins, seconded by Dr. Roer. 

Lieut. Ed. Tuite Dalton, 9th Regt. N. I. Asst. to Comr. of Assam, 
proposed by Major Jenkins, seconded by Dr. Roer. 

C. B. Skinner, Esq. proposed by Mr. Laidlay, seconded by Dr. 
O’Shaughnessy: 

Ff. EL. Hall, Esq. of Harvard Galles United States, proposed by the 
Lord Bishop, seconded by the Rev. Mr. Pratt. 

Read letters from Secretary to the Government of India, Home De- 
partment. 


From G. A. Bususy, Esq. 


Secy. to the Govt. of India, to Senior Secretary to the Asiatic Society 
Home Department. 

Sir,—I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 
16th ultimo, and to state that the Society’s application to be permitted to 
ident on the Hon’ble Company’s Dispensary fora monthly supply of 10 
gallons of Spirits of Wine for the preservation of specimens in the Zoological 
Museum, has been submitted to the Hon’ble the Court of Directors, under 
whose authority the present monthly payment of 50 Rs. is made to the Society 
for the cost of preparing specimens and maintaining collections of natural 
history. 

2. I amat the same time directed to request you will place before the 
Society the accompanying copy of a despatch from the Hon’ble Court, dated 
the 17th February last, No. 5, in which they convey their acknowledgments 
for the contributions made by the Society to the Museum at the East India 
House, and request that specimens of new subjects illustrative of the Natural 
History of India, may be furnished as they are diScovered and collected. 


I have the honor to be, 
Sir, 
Your most Obedient Servant, 
G. A. BusHuBy, 
Secy. to the Govt. of India. 


Council Chamber, the 24th April, 1847. 


1847.| Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 509 


Public Departmen. 
No. 5 of 1847. 
Our Governor General of India in Councii. 

1. Gur attention having been directed to the contributions which have 
been made to our Museum in this House by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and 
particularly to the collections received in this country during the last five years, 
we desire to acknowledge the friendly co-operation of the Society in further- 
ance of one of the chief designs ef our Museum, viz. the establishment in 
certain departments of a complete series of subjects illustrative of the Zoology 
of India. The collections which we have thus received and which with some 
others have been the results of public missions on behalf of Government, have 
supplied to the Museum most of the common subjects of Indian Ornithology, 
and specimens in other departments ef Zoology, but in order to carry out the 
design, it is highly desirable that specimens of new subjects as they may be 
discovered and collected should be furnished to us without delay. 

In expressing as we now direct you to do our acknowledgments to the 
Asiatic Society, for the valuable additions which from time to time have been 
made to our Museum through their instrumentality, and which are highly 
ereditable to the Society’s officers, it is our wish that you should bring to the 
notice of the President and Council of the Society, the importance which we 
attach to the early contribution to our Museum of newly discovered subjects 
illustrative of the Natural History of India, and upon this point we would refer 
you to our despatch of the 18th September, 1839, on the occasion of the pre- 
vision by the Court of a salary for the Curator of the Calcutta Museum. 

We are, &e. 
London, 17th Feb. 1847. 
(True Copy) 
G. A. Bususy, 
Secy. to the Govt. of India. 


From the Seeretary to Supermtendent of Marine with Meteorological 
Register kept at Kyook Phoo for March. 

From Lieut. Thuillier, Officiating Deputy Surveyor General, with Me- 
teorological Register kept at the Surveyor General’s office, Calcutta, for 
March. 

From the Secretary to the Military Board requesting information 
regarding the Timber Trees of Bengal. The subject was referred, on 
the recommendation of the Committee of Papers, to Captain Munro, 
who was solicited to report upon it through the Committee. 

4s 


600 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. | May, 


From Captain Newbold, through Myr. Piddimgton, forwarding a 
notice by Hekekyan Bey, late President of the Ecole Polytechnique of 
Cairo, on the temples and emerald mines in the eastern desert of Egypt. 

Captain Newbold also forwarded some minerals referred to in a me- 
morandum annexed to the Bey’s paper. 

From Mr. Hodgson, Darjeeling, on the Megaderme of the Terai, 
with plate—on the Pigmy Hog of the Sal forest, with plate,—returning 
thanks for the Society’s present of M. Csoma de Koros’ Grammar 
and Dictionary of the Tibetan language,—and announcing despatch of 
the Preface to and first part of a series of Essays on the Aborigines of 
the Eastern part of the Sub-Himalayas and Terai. 

From Captain Hutton, Mussoorie, 4th April, on the Ovis Ammonoides 
of Hodgson, and corroborating Mr. H.,’s views regarding that animal. 

From Major Showers, Murshedabad, with copy of a Persian inscrip- 
tion (and translation) on a gun found near Murshedabad, and which 
formed part of the train of Mohabut Jung, usually called Aliverdi 


Khan. 
From Vincent Tregear, Hsq. for copies of certain Oriental works, to 


be disposed of for the Society. 
The Librarian was directed to comply with Mr. Tregear’s wishes. 
From Dr. O’Shaughnessy, reporting the Assay by the Assay Master, 
Mr. Dodd, of the Gold dust from the Beas river, forwarded by Captain 
Jas. Abbott, and which was found to contain in 100 parts. 
Assay Report. 
Pure Gold. Silver. Alloy. C. Gus. 
91.015 2.995 5.990 & Worse 
than standard. 


On the Land Shells of the Tenasserim Provinces, by the Rev. F. 
Mason, A.M. (Ordered for publication.) 

From J.G. Delmerick, Esq. forwarding some copper and silver coins 
found at Pertabghur. 

[The copper coins seat by Mr. Delmerick are of no interest whatever. 
The seven larger ones are Juanpore coins of “ Husain Shah, bin 
Ibrahim Shah, bin Mahmood Shah; and are very common. The 
smaller ones are very much corroded; but have evidently Buddhist 


emblems. | 


1847.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 60) 


~The Report on the “ Vedas’ (see May number) was brought up, 
having been circulated to resident members for consideration prior to 
the meeting—and the several propositions made by the Committee 
respecting the publication were unanimously adopted. 

The following propositions by the Committee of Papers were submit- 
ted and unanimously agreed to :— 

1. That Hekekyan Bey, late President of the Ecole Polytechnique 
of Cairo, on the recommendation of Capt. Newbold, seconded by Mr. 
Piddington and Mr. Welby Jackson, be elected an Honorary Member 
of the Asiatie Society, and presented with copies of their Researches, 
Journal and Oriental publications. 

2. The Rev. Dr. Heberlin having officially addressed the Senior 
Secretary, declaring his inability from absence, to take that part he 
would desire to do in the Society’s proceedings, and tendering his 
resignation as member of the Committee of Papers and Oriental Section, 
the Committee of Papers renew their proposition of Baboo Debendro- 
nath Tagore, as a member of the Committee of Papers, vice Dr. 
Heeberlin. | 

3. The Committee of Papers recommend that Mr. G. Wilby be re- 
quested to act as a member of the Section of Mineralogy and Geology. 

The usual monthly Reports of the Librarian and Curators were sub- 
mitted. 

Books recewed for the Meeting of the 5th May, 1847. 
PRESENTED. | 

Meteorological Register kept at the Surveyor General’s Office, for the 
month of March, 1847.—F Rom THE SURVEYOR GENERAL’S OFFICE. 

Ditto ditto kept at Kyouk Phyoo durmg March, 1847.—By THE Srcre- 
TARY TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF MARINE. 

The Caleutta Christian Observer for: May, 1847.—By tur Epirors. 

The Oriental Baptist, Nos. 1 to 5.—By rue Eprror. 

The Oopadeshak, a Bengali periodical, Nos. 1 to 5—By Tue Eprror. 

Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, udgivet af det Kongelige Nordiske Aldskrift-Selskab, 
1843—1845, Anclet Hefte—By THE Socie’re’ RoyaLe DES ANTI- 
QUAIRES DU Norp. 

Annaler for Nordisk Oldkyndighed, udgivne af det Kongelige Nordiske 
Oldskrift—Selskab, 1844-5.—By THE SAME. 

Americas Arctiske landes Gamle Geographie efter de Nordiske Oldskrifter, 
ved Carl Christian Rafn.— By THE SAME. 

412 


602 


Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ May, 


Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. X. Part 1—By true Sociery. 
The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No.9.—By Tue Socigry. 
Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, troisieme série, Tome V.—By THE 


Society. 


EXCHANGED. 


Journal Asiatique, No. 59. 
The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, No. 199. 


PURCHASED. 


The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, No. 124. 

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. XLII. No. 83. 

Journal des Savans, December, 1846. 

The Birds of Australia, by J. Gould, F. R. S. &e. parts 24 and 25. 

Tedelijkheid,—aan Maatschappelijk Belong,—Aan Bigbel en Evadgelie. 
Door S. A. Buddingh.—By THE AuTHoR. 

De Doodstraf, Getoetst aan Gezonde nede en Menschkunde, aan Godsdienst 


en. 


DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM. 


List of Sculptures presented to the Society’s Museum, by Capt. M. Kirror. 
' Nos. 1 to 5. Buddhist Chaityas of different sizes. 
6. A Chaitya with the Buddhist creed, “ Ye dharmahetu,” &e. inscribed 


on its base. 
@to 10. Buddhist Chaityas without the inscription, 


LE. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
ey: 
18. 
49. 
20. 
ai 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 


A Chaitya similiar to the No. 6th. 

A calasa or pinnacle of a Chaitya. 

A figure of Buddha, in black marble. 

A figure of Buddha, in potstone. 

A ditto. 

A figure of Parbati. 

Figures of Hara and Parbati. 

A sculptured stone having a human figure in a niche. 

A sow with seven pigs in bass relief. 

A miniature figure of Buddha. 

A piece of sculpture with four rows of Buddhist figures. 
A ditto. 

A ditto with 3 figures of Buddhas in niches. 

A ditto with 5 figures of ditto. 

A ditto with 4 figures of ditto. 

A ditto with 4 figures of ditto. 

The plinth of a Chaitya bearmg 3 figures of Buddhas—a horse, an 


elephant, a “ bo” tree, and the creed “ Ye dharmahetu,” &c. 


1847.| Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 603 


28. Ditto with 4 figures of Buddhas—without the inscription. 
29. The plinth of a pilaster. 

30. The base of a dodecagon pillar. 

31 to 33. Three highly sculptured plinths of pillars. 

34. Portion of the shaft ofa highly sculptured pillar. 


Report from the Curator, Zoological Department. 


At this season of the year, it is rarely that I have much to report 
upon, at least as relates to donations received for the Museum ; but the 
past has been a very busy month with me, and due progress has been 
effected in various departments of the Museum, to which I invite the 
attention of members interested in the investigations which fall within 
the sphere of duty of the Society’s Zoological Curator. 

1. From G. T. Lushington, Esq., of Almorah, have been received 
another skin of the Ovis ammon, and one of Pantholops chiru. The 
latter. will, I think, bear settmmg up as a stuffed specimen ;* but the 
former is, I fear, too much injured: though its head and horns may be 
preserved, as the horns present considerable difference from those of 
the specimen already mounted, and the two certainly tend to exhibit 
the amount of variation to which the horns of this noble species are 
subject. Those of the present specimen are remarkable for increase of 
depth, in inverse proportion to their diminished width at base; and I 
think I may now safely conclude my O. sculptorum to be a mere varie- 
ty of O. ammon.t 

2. From E. O’ Ryley, Esq. of Amherst, has been received a collection of 
sundries, comprising mammalia, birds, fishes, Crustacea, and Mollusca ; 
some of the Crustacea, more especially, being new to the Society’s 
Museum, and especially acceptable. There is a particularly fine series of 
the Ocypoda ceratopthalma, from youth to maturity ; from which it is 
seen that the remarkable ocular peduncle only begins to appear when 


* This has since been done. 

+ In p. 362 ante, I was necessitated to quote from memory respecting the Prince of 
Canino’s statement relative to the suborbital sinuses of O. musimon. But I find that I 
quoted it erroneously. It appears, on reference to the volume on “‘ Goats and Sheep,”’ in 
the ‘ Naturalist’s Library,’ that his Highness states (bearing out my own recollection of a 
living specimen), that ‘‘ There is a trace of a lachrymal sinus ;” and that the Prince re- 
ferred this animal “ to the genus or sub-genus Capra, on account of the absence of the 
interdigital hole.” This further complicates the subdivision of the group of Wild Sheep. 


604 _ Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ May, 


this Crab is nearly a quarter grown. An equally fine series is sent of 
the common Gelasimus of the Bay, the half grown young of which 
Crab I have taken from holes in the bank only a few miles below 
Calcutta. We have received the same species from the Persian Gulf. 

3. From Capt. Thos. Hutton, of Mussoorie, a large collection (the 
majority, however, sent on loan, and for the purpose of illustrating a 
paper which he has confided to my editorship), of the birds of Afgha- 
nistan, with many also from the Deyra Doon, certain of which have 
been presented by him to the Society’s Museum. 

4. From J. W. Payter, Esq., the skeleton of an adult Tigress. 

ii. Buytu. 


Report of the Curator Museum of Economic Geology for the month of 
April. « 


We have received so little in the way of contributions this month 
that it is scarcely worth reporting upon, were it not to preserve the 
regularity of our reports; and my laboratory work of the month is not 
yet sufficiently advanced to enable me to conclude any paper or report as 
I desire. 

Geology and Mineralogy.—We have received from Captain Kittoe a 
small box of specimens, but unfortunately without labels of any kind. 
Some of them require examination and will be referred to in a future 
report. 

Economie Geology.—Capt. Sherwill has presented us with a box of 
specimens from the Mica quarries of Behar, of which he has promised 
anote. They consist of the mica in plates of all sizes, with quartz, 
felspar and tourmalin, and in one specimen small decomposing gar- 
nets. 

Lieut.-Col. Ouseley has sent us a supposed mass of Coal from the 
Mohun River, Sirgooja, but it is rather one of a good Coal-shale with 
a vein of promising Coal running through a part of it. It is no doubt 
a surface specimen. The Mohun is a tributary of the Sone, taking its 
rise a little north of Sirgooja. The Sirgooja coal field is well known 
by the labours of Col. Ouseley as reported by the Coal Committee. 

The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted for all contribu- 
tions acknowledged as above. 


1847. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 605 


[The following letter has been sent to the Editors of the Journal for 
publication as a sequel to the proceedings for May. | 


To Dr. W. B. O’SHaucHNEssy, 
Joint-Secretary of the Asiatic Society. 

Dear Sir,—I had expected to have been present at the Society’s meeting 
last night, but was unavoidably prevented almost at the last moment; it 
becomes necessary, therefore, that I should trouble you with a few lines in 
correction of such portion of your report of the Proceedings, published in 
April, as refers to what you supposed me to have said on the subject of the 
Burnes and Cantor drawings. You did me the favour to ask me to give you 
a written report of the remarks I made, but other engagements prevented my 
doing so; any trivial maccuracy, therefore, I should not have noticed; but 
you make me talk nonsense on a matter of figures, and, however apparent it 
may be thought as a mistake, I desire to repudiate it. I could have wished 
that you had thought what I said on the subject of the importance of keeping 
accounts in a business-like way (with reference to the unsatisfactory abstract 
before me) worthy a line or two, prefacing as it did that “ categorical mode of 
questioning” which you pronounced “ uncalled for and unnecessary among a 
society of gentlemen.’ TI think it would have been better, when you repeated 
this expression in type, to have mentioned the substance of my reply, which 
was, that the money matters of even a Scientific Society were of serious 
moment, and that peremptory questioning was called for by lavish expenditure 
and unsatisfactory accounts, more especially when there were not funds to 
meet its professed liabilities ; you may remember that I pointed out, inter alia, 
that it was impossible for any member of the Society to say what sum, 
between two and three thousand rupees, was debited to 14 of Dr. Cantor’s 
drawings. This brings me to the particular misconception of what I said 
about these and the Burnes lithographs, to which I have above alluded. The 
Report in the Society’s Journal is as follows :—“ The sets of Cantor’s collec- 
tion had cost Rs. 2561, being 183 Rs. each set-—now he had much experience 
im the expense of lithographs and would pledge himself to produce plates 
infinitely superior to those now before the Society at the cost of from 5 to 10 
Rupees per 100.” How it could possibly have been supposed that I said one 
hundred lithographed plates could be produced for any swn between these 
limits, I am at a loss to imagine. I stated it was certain the 14 Cantor draw- 
ings had cost Rs. 2,561, but the precise amount beyond was undiscoverable, 
from Chinese zoology being lumped with Mr. Thoby Prinsep’s bust and 
other matters, in an item of considerable amount. I said it was an exorbitant 
charge ; that I had people in my employ who could lithograph much _ better, 
whose wages were Rs. 15 a month, and that each of them could certainly do 


606 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 


four or five of the drawings in that time. Mr. Piddington had dwelt on 
the enormous expense of colourmg in this country, not dealing in figures 
but ‘leaving the Society to infer that this item of expenditure might ac- 
count for the outlay complained of. In reply, without denying that colour- 
ing wasa very heavy expense, I stated that better colouring than was on 
the table could be obtained for from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10 per hundred drawings, 
and I left it to members to look at the accounts and make their own calcula- 
tions. 

You will see that this is a very different statement from the one published, 
and I shall therefore esteem it a_ favour if you will allow this letter to appear 


IT am, dear Sir, 
Your’s faithfully, 
JAMES Hume. 


Nors.—The Editors wiliisly insert Mr. Hume’s letter. Not pre- 


tending to possess the accuracy of professional reporters they appli- 
ed to Mr. Hume for a correct statement of his remarks at the discussion 
regarding the ‘Burnes and Cantor drawings.” Mr. Hume did not 
comply with their request and has accordingly suffered a most uninten- 
tional misrepresentation. As Secretaries, Dr. O’Shaughnessy and 
Mr. Laidlay have again to state prominently that they are in no degree 
responsible for any part of the expenditure referred to, all of which 
had been incurred prior to their appointment. The accounts, unpublish- 
ed for several years, they printed as they received them from the late 
accountant. The Senior Secretary naturally objected to his being 
*‘ peremptorily questioned” regarding accounts and. transactions which 
Mr. Hume knew, he, Dr.O’S. had nothing to do with. When the accounts 
for this year are published Mr. Hume will be most welcome to question 
the Secretaries and Accountant as “ peremptorily’ ashe pleases on 
every item they present. Pending publication, the accounts for each 
month are laid on the Library Table for the month ensuing, for the 
perusal of the members, who would confer a great favour on the 
Secretaries, and do good service to the Society by pointing out any 
irregularity in the expenditure or deviation from the rules laid down by 
the Society for the regulation of their outlay. 


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